Best Māori Artist (Māori: Te Manu Taki Māori o te Tau) is an Aotearoa Music Award that honours New Zealand music artists for outstanding recordings which reflect a unique Māori identity and/or are an expression of an artist's Māori culture. The nominated work can be in te reo Māori, English or be bilingual.[1] The award is presented annually at the New Zealand Music Awards where the winner receives a Tui trophy.
The award was established in 1992 as Best Māori Album, however it was soon criticised for being too broad. The category was withdrawn in 1994 and 1995, and relaunched in 1996 as two separate categories: Best Mana Māori Album (for albums from Māori artists) and Best Mana Reo Album (for Māori language albums). From 2004, the award reverted to only the Best Māori Album category.[2] In 2017 the award was changed to Best Māori Artist with the entry criteria changed to require either an album or a minimum of five single releases in the eligibility period. [3] The award was not presented in 2005, 2009 and 2010 due to insufficient entries.
At the 2015 ceremony, the presentation of the Best Māori Album award was not shown in the live broadcast, as the network cut to an ad break, resulting in complaints from viewers and musicians.[4]
