New Year 2025 Honours: Havelock North’s Heke-Turoa Huata made ONZM for services to Māori and education

Heke Huata, of Havelock North, has been made an officer of the Order of New Zealand (ONZM) in the New Year Honours for services to Māori and education. Photo / Supplied

Havelock North woman Heke-Turoa Huata’s devotion to the Māori language and culture aspirations of her father, Canon Wi Te Tau Huata, made her a natural candidate for a place in the New Year 2025 Honours.

Heke Huata, of Havelock North, has been made an officer of the Order of New Zealand (ONZM) in the New Year Honours for services to Māori and education. Photo / Supplied

But while it will be no surprise to others, news that she has been made an officer of the Order of New Zealand (ONZM) in the New Year list comes as more than a surprise for the recipient, recognised for services to Māori and education.

“I was shocked,” she said of the moments she received the news from the Governor-General and the follow-up congratulations from the Prime Minister.

In 1983 she was a foundational member of world-renowned Māori performing arts school Te Waka Tapu o Takitimu, now Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu, and has had roles as a tutor, administrator, national and international tour manager and performer.

In 1991 Huata (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa ki Heretaunga, Ngāti Porou) established Te Kōhanga Reo (TKR) o Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu, which has been a high-performing flagship model nationally. In 1995 she established Te Kura Kaupapa Māori (TKKM) o Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu, the first kura kaupapa in Hastings, Napier and Te Wairoa, and which has expanded to offer a secondary schooling option.

She has had 33 years working for Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust. Having worked 10 years at its head office in Wellington, she is now the general manager of operations, working from home in Hawke’s Bay.

Huata was instrumental in establishing the first teaching certification at degree level for TKR on a national scale. She served on Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board from 1996 to 2006. She was a Matauranga Board member of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated from 2001 to 2012.

A former Hukarere Hostel pupil of Napier Girls’ High School, she became a trustee of Hukarere Māori Girls College from 2003 to 2021 and president of the Hukarere Old Girls’ Association from 2003 to 2010.

She was also a member of the EIT’s Hawke’s Bay Māori Strategic Advisory Committee from 2014 to 2021 and has been a Waipatu Marae committee member since 2017.