Rawinia Ruth Higgins is a New Zealand academic whose research focuses on Māori language and culture.^[2]

Higgins' Master's thesis at the University of Otago was on the nature of transmission of oral histories,^[3] while her 2004 PhD thesis, He tanga ngutu, he Tuhoetanga te Mana Motuhake o te ta moko wahine, was on the identity politics of female chin tattoos.^[4][5] She was the Head of School at Te Kawa a Māui, School of Maori Studies at Victoria University and was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori at Victoria University of Wellington in 2016.^[6][7]

Higgins has written Māori material for Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.^[8] She has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal^[9] since 2013,^[10] and is on the board of Te Māngai Pāho, the Māori Broadcast Funding Agency.^[11] She is currently Chair of the Māori Language Commission.^[12] Higgins has also served on the following boards, Te Kotahi a Tūhoe and the Tūhoe Fisheries Charitable Trust Board.^[6]

In November 2020, the Royal Society Te Apārangi awarded Higgins the Pou Aronui award for dedicated service to the humanities–aronui over a sustained period.^[13] In March 2021, Higgins was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, recognising "her scholarly contributions have made a significant impact in sharing new discourse, insights and understanding of mātauranga Māori and challenging cultural norms".^[14]

Higgins is of Tūhoe descent. ^{[citation needed]}