Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

‘We have a right to be Māori in our own land.’

Cathy Dewes was an active member of the Te Reo Māori Society, which was responsible for the Māori language petition of 1972 and the founding of Māori Language Week in 1975. In 1985 she led the establishment of one of the first Māori language schools – Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata in Rotorua. It was at Ruamata Marae in 2011 that her efforts were recognised with the award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato.

At Wellington Girls’ College Cathy Dewes studied Italian, German, French and Latin, but te reo Māori was not taught. ‘It was then I realised that society needed to change in order that Māori might live.’

In 1995 she became the first woman to gain a seat on the Te Arawa Māori Trust Board, a role she maintained until 2006.

In 2011 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori.

Further information

'Cathy Dewes: We have a right to be Māori in our own land'

'Waikato University honour for Māori language proponent'

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision: Cathy Moana Dewes