Tākuta Cathy Dewes
Ngāti Rangitihi, YouTube
E ai ki ā Cathy Dewes, “no mātau te Māori tēnei whenua, e tika ana nō mātau te mana motuhake.”
Ko Cathy Dewes tētahi o ngā kaihautū o te rōpū Te Hōhaieti o te Reo Māori nā rātou nei i kawe te petihana mō te reo Māori i te tau 1972, tae atu hoki ki te puāwaitanga mai o Te Wiki o te Reo Māori i te tau 1975. I te tau 1985, i whakatuwheratia te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamatā. Ko ia te Tumuaki, te poutokomanawa hoki o te kura. I kitea whānuitia āna mahi i te marae o Ruamatā, nā whai anō i whakawhiwhia ia ki Te Tākutatanga Hōnoretanga i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato i te tau 2011.
I a ia i te Kāreti mō ngā Kōtiro o Pōneke i whāia e ia ngā reo, Itāriana, Tiamana, Wiwi me te reo Rātini, engari kāre te reo Māori i whakaakohia i reira. ‘I taua wā tonu, i toko ake i roto i a au me whakarerekē rā anō te porihanga kia ora ai te ao Māori’.
I te tau 1995, ko ia te wahine tuatahi kia whakawhiwhia he tūru ki te Poari Tiaki o Te Arawa, ā, i puritia tēnei tūru e ia tae rā anō ki te tau 2006.
I te tau 2011, i whakawhiwhia ia ki te Tohu Āpiha (ONZM), mō āna mahi mō te Māori. E ai ki a ia, 'nō mātou te mana kia tū hei Māori ki tō mātou ake whenua.’