Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Iwi leader leaves positive impressions on community he served

Ruth Wong
Hawkes Bay Today·
28 Jan, 2018 08:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Rill Meihana celebrating his 70th Birthday in Murumurunga Marae, located on the edge of Te Urewera.

Rill Meihana celebrating his 70th Birthday in Murumurunga Marae, located on the edge of Te Urewera.

Late last year Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated's deputy chairman and Wairoa Maori leader Rill (Riwai) Meihana passed away suddenly in his home at Nuhaka in Northern Hawke's Bay.

A three-times election challenger to the chairmanship of long-term iwi leader Ngahiwi Tomoana, he was into his eighth year on the iwi board and was chairman of the board of Wairoa Taiwhenua.

Under Rill's leadership, the Wairoa Taiwhenua Board supported whanau, marae, local events, rangatahi initiatives and their environmental work in the Wairoa community.

He was passionate about his community and represented whanau, hapu and iwi on a number of local and regional committees.

"Rill was a staunch advocate for Kahungunu and 'an abrupt to the point leader' who maintained the mana of Kahungunu 24/7," said Mr Tomoana.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He was my deputy chairman for the past eight years"

Rill would often drive to Hastings with kaumatua Bill Blake, and the two would visit the iwi's head office to "check up on the staff".

He had a witty personality and he grew a great relationship with the staff at Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. Often he would joke with the staff and the office would roar with laughter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Last Thursday the Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated Board held its first meeting for the year at Kahungunu Marae in Nuhaka.

The board and staff members met with Rill's whanau to remember and reshare and celebrate in some good memories.

Rill is survived by his beautiful wife Larraine and he was the proud father of Dr Suzanne Pitama and Denal Meihana. Rill and Larraine have four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Raging flames, exploding windows: Neighbours fight fatal fire with garden hoses

30 Sep 02:13 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'If I wasn’t going to be a farmer, I wanted to be a teacher'

29 Sep 10:09 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Serious risk to parks': Council warns over rise in e-motorbike use

29 Sep 10:04 PM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Raging flames, exploding windows: Neighbours fight fatal fire with garden hoses
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Raging flames, exploding windows: Neighbours fight fatal fire with garden hoses

'I started banging my fence, yelling ‘fire fire fire’'.

30 Sep 02:13 AM
'If I wasn’t going to be a farmer, I wanted to be a teacher'
Hawkes Bay Today

'If I wasn’t going to be a farmer, I wanted to be a teacher'

29 Sep 10:09 PM
'Serious risk to parks': Council warns over rise in e-motorbike use
Hawkes Bay Today

'Serious risk to parks': Council warns over rise in e-motorbike use

29 Sep 10:04 PM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP