Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha

Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha, ONZM, QSM, (21 February 1931 – 16 December 2011)[1] was a prominent Māori leader and member of Māori Women's Welfare League. Of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou descent, she lived most of her life in Wellington.

A trained teacher, she taught Māori language for many years at The Correspondence School, enabling students whose schools did not offer the language to take in by distance education.[2]

Since 1986, she had been kaumatua of Te Herenga Waka Marae at Victoria University of Wellington and was a Hunter Fellow there in 2011.[3]

She was a lifetime member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League and a foundation member of Te Atamira Taiwhenua, the national Maori advisory group to the Department of Internal Affairs. For some years she was a judge at the national kapa haka competitions.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Memorial for Paekiomeka Joy Ruha". tributes.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Poroporoaki ki Te Pae ki Omeka Ruha, ONZM, QSM". scoop.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "New Hunter Fellows announced". scoop.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011. Hunter Fellows
  4. ↑ "Te Ipukarea: Partnerships". teipukarea.maori.nz. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.