Respected Hawke's Bay kaiako Huia Beattie fondly remembered by the community she served

Huia Beattie (second from left) along with board members of Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri. Photo / Supplied

Huia Beattie, a wāhine toa and trailblazer for Māori health and education, has been fondly remembered by family members, colleagues and friends.

She died late last week, aged in her 70s.

Huia was a longstanding board member at Te Kupenga Hauora - Ahuriri and Hukarere Girls' College respectively, and was on the board of trustees at Te Aute College.

Lelie Jackson-Pearcey said Huia was her aunty and she was a "kind, considerate person".

"She always put others first," Jackson-Pearcey said.

"She had a lot of love in her heart for all she came in contact with, and her knowledge of all things Māori was extensive.

"She was a very caring, loving person."

Long-time friend Matthew Bennett echoed the sentiments and said Huia attended St Joseph's Māori Girls' College and in 1964-65 graduated from the New Zealand dental school in Wellington as a dental nurse.

"She came from a large family in Wairoa. She was a very humble person, she was a prolific contributor to Māori health in the region."

She worked at the Faculty of Health at EIT and encouraged Māori women to get cervical screening.

"She had been a friend of mine for many years and we both had a common interest in working for Māori health and interests," he said.

"She was involved in the integration of Māori kaupapa into the health system at EIT, she was a do-er, not a talker."

The late Huia Beattie was a longstanding board member at Hukarere Girls' College. Photo File

Te Kupenga Hauora chief executive Audrey Robin said she knew Huia not just as a board member but also as a confidant.

"Whāea Beattie" stood for her people, a people of many, a descendant of Ngāi Tuhoe, she said.

"She was a fluent Māori speaker and gifted in Tikanga Māori, and she was comfortably able to walk in both worlds," Robin said.

"That was her strength around the table.

"She was also a gracious and unassuming person and very articulate."

Huia has been quoted as saying, "using the Māori language to reach Māori is more effective, especially being sensitive to the different tribal dialects".

She was a respected kaiako, and it is believed that along with Anglican Archbishop Brown Turei she composed a version of Te Inoi a te Ariki - The Lord's Prayer.

The Hawke's Bay DHB confirmed she was a former dental nurse, smokefree health promoter, EIT lecturer in Hauora and NetP cultural supervisor.

The DHB said she had been "hugely influential in the development of hauora Māori ki Te Matau a Māui and a role model, mentor and friend to many".

"Our thoughts and prayers are with their whānau in this difficult time compounded by the restrictions of the pandemic."

Friends and family of Beattie will not be able to farewell her traditionally as under current alert levels gathering together for funerals and tangihanga is not permitted.

This includes gatherings at burials, urupa, cremations, memorial services, open or closed casket or viewing, funeral wakes, processions or receptions, or social gatherings indoors or outdoors.