More tributes have been paid to Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts, former Māori Women's Welfare League president and kapa haka advocate.
Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts. Photo: Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts
Today is the final day of the tangi for Dame Aroha, who died in Christchurch on Friday, aged 83, and she was to be laid to rest at her urupa, Te Uruti, near Kaiapoi.
Dame Aroha has been described as a selfless, stalwart champion for wahine Māori.
President of the Maori Women's Welfare League from 1990 to 1993, she used the role to support wahine Māori business startups and development. She was a staunch advocate for Māori health, wellbeing and parenting programmes.
The league's new president Hope Tupara hopes to pick up the rakau Dame Aroha carried to continue her legacy.
"She was passionate about the needs of her people and of hapu and iwi and also the positioning of women. She epitomised what she's called as well so I hope that I can take those things that I'm learning about her and apply them in my role now.
Another former president, Prue Kapua, called her a champion for wahine Māori.
"She's done it through council, she's done it through song, through soul, through waiata, through kapa haka. She's done it through advocating for changes and policies right across the board.
"When she came into the position as president [it] was a time when we had significant benefit cuts and so on. And she kept going back to government."
Whānau spokesperson Tutehounuku Korako said Dame Aroha left behind a huge legacy.
"She would never give up and she would always challenge the status quo, in particular around Māori health, around Māori housing, around Māori women in particular about our wāhine, a woman's place on the marae. She was one of the great kapa haka experts, waiata. And she'll also leave a legacy of Christianity, in particular the Ratana Church."
Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said the council was deeply saddened by the news of Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts' death.
"Dame Aroha was a very special lady that I and the council enjoyed a special bond with. I have got to know her very well in my role as mayor and enjoyed a close friendship. I've been especially grateful for her wise advice over the years."
She also successfully fought for the right for iwi to rebuild at Tuahiwi in North Canterbury in 2014.
Gordon said she helped him realise how crucial it was for Māori to reconnect back to their whenua.
"I'm very proud of the district plan provisions we have in place now which will now enable Māori people to return home.
"My discussions with her and gaining that understanding was certainly very influential in my thinking and I'll be forever grateful for that because it was important for me to understand."
Dame Aroha's other passions included kapa haka where she was the co-tutor of the group that performed at the 1974 Commonwealth Games.
She set a world endurance record for a poi performance which lasted for 30 hours and 19 minutes.
Tutehounuku Korako said she was a big promoter of Te Matatini.
"It was all about the sum of the parts to embrace your culture and also be proud of it and in doing that, it actually has a profound effect on you and how proud you are as a person. But also around the factors that she was always about actually, partnership with the treaty partner.
The funeral service for Dame Aroha was taking place at Tuahiwi Marae at 1pm.
