Aroha Reriti-Crofts

Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts
DNZM CBE JP
Reriti-Crofts in 2020
13th President of the Māori Women's Welfare League
In office
1990–1993
Preceded byJune Mariu
Succeeded byAreta Koopu
Personal details
Born
Aroha Hōhipera Crofts

(1938-08-28)28 August 1938
Tuahiwi, New Zealand
Died20 May 2022(2022-05-20) (aged 83)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Political partyMāori Party
SpousePeter Reriti
Children4

Dame Aroha Hōhipera Reriti-Crofts DNZM CBE JP (née Crofts; 28 August 1938 – 20 May 2022) was a New Zealand community worker who was national president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League.[1][2]

Biography

Reriti-Crofts was born Aroha Hōhipera Crofts at Tuahiwi on 28 August 1938, the daughter of Metapere Ngawini Crofts (née Barrett) and Edward Teoreohua Crofts.[3] Of Māori descent, she affiliated to Ngāi Tahu, and was educated at Te Waipounamu Maori Girls' College in Christchurch.[3] She married Peter Reriti, and the couple had four children.[3]

From 1978 to 1979, Reriti-Crofts returned to study as an adult student at Aranui High School in Christchurch, and went on to complete a teaching diploma at Christchurch Teachers' College in 1983.[3]

Reriti-Crofts died in Christchurch on 20 May 2022, aged 83 years.[4]

Community activities

From the age of seven, Reriti-Crofts was involved in kapa haka: she was co-tutor of the Māori cultural performance group at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch and was head tutor of a similar group at the 1975 New Zealand Games, also held in Christchurch.[3] She set a world endurance record for a poi performance at 30 hours 19 minutes.[3]

Reriti-Crofts joined the Ōtautahi Māori Women’s Welfare League in 1968 and served as secretary of the branch in the 1970s. In 1990, she was elected national president.[3] Her involvement in other community organisations included serving as a trustee of Te Puawaitanga ki Ōtautahi Trust, the Māori Women’s Development Incorporated, Mana Waitaha Charitable Trust and Maori Reserve Lands: Tuahiwi/North Canterbury, She was a kaiwhakamana of the Department of Corrections and chairperson of Matapopore – Tūāhuriri Rūnanga.[5] She was particularly involved with health initiatives in Māori communities, such as Tamariki Ora (well-child), Rapuora (mobile nursing service), outreach immunisation, flu vaccinations for older people and breastfeeding advocacy.[2]

At the 2014 and 2017 general elections, Reriti-Crofts unsuccessfully contested in the Waimakariri electorate representing the Māori Party.[6][7]

Honours and awards

In 1972, Reriti-Crofts was named as Young Māori Woman of the Year.[3] In 1977, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1993 she received the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[3][8]

In the 1993 New Year Honours, Reriti-Crofts was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori and the community.[1] In 2016, she was a runner-up for the Māori/Pacific Health Volunteer Award from the New Zealand Ministry of Health.[9] In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Māori Women's Welfare League". Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Canterbury DHB CEO Update" (PDF). 4 April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 313. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  4. ^ Macintosh, Cate (21 May 2022). "Mana wahine Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts dies at 83". Stuff. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Trustees and Management – Matapopore Charitable Trust". www.matapopore.co.nz. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  6. ^ "National holds Waimakariri". Stuff. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Official Count Results – Waimakariri (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  8. ^ "The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  9. ^ "2016 Volunteer Awards recipients". Ministry of Health NZ. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2020". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2020.