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Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi, a founder of the Kōhanga Reo movement, has died at 95.
She will be laid to rest at Porourangi Tāwhiwhirangi Urupā, alongside her late husband and children.
Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi, a founder of the Kōhanga Reo movement, has died at 95.
Surrounded by her whānau, the first lady of Kōhanga Reo, died peacefully.
Māori and Pākehā leadership have paid their respects to Tāwhiwhirangi.
“As a whānau, we are deeply proud of all her work andaccomplishments, particularly raising her children and mokopuna,” the whānau said in a statement yesterday.
“She did all of this without her late husband by her side, while leading, contributing and supporting Māori development through kaupapa such as Te Kōhanga Reo, [the] Māori Women’s Welfare League, Tū Tāngata and many other kaupapa,” the post read.
Since news of Tāwhiwhirangi’s death, tributes have flowed from all quarters.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Māori/Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia.
Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka, on behalf of the Government, told the Herald: “Iritana was an icon who remained staunched to the spirit and substance of her tino rangatiratanga.
“Her work on and over many kaupapa like Kōhanga Reo reinforced by the principle that Māori for Māori platforms decide our country’s futures.”
On Saturday 01 February 2025, surrounded by whanau at home, Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi passed away peacefully aged 95 years old.
Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere said Tāwhiwhirangi was a trendsetter, and today’s children owe much to her tenacity and fortitude.
“Aunty Iri singularly had the greatest positive impact on Māori education outcomes over the last 60 years.
“Her relentless, tireless effort in advancing Kōhanga Reo laid the platform for wave after wave of Māori alumni graduating from universities in large numbers.
“The kōhanga generation she begat have arrived in the halls of Parliament and in the boardrooms of big business. Her impact and legacy have her fingerprints on our liberation story, believing in our own Māori selves. She achieved all this with resolute class, grace, courage and conviction. Te Reringi Roimata a Hikurangi. Her mountain, Hikurangi grieved and cried for her.”
Act leader David Seymour.
Act leader David Seymour said Tāwhiwhirangi was a force for good for all New Zealanders.
“Dame Iritana was a force of nature, a phenomenon and an institution.
“She was so many things to so many people. To me, she was an early member of our party, a wonderful sounding board to me personally, and a powerful supporter of charter schools kura hourua. I will miss her strength and wisdom, and I’ll be far from the only one. Our thoughts are with her whānau as they grieve her loss.”
NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones said the great dame was in a class of her own.
“Dame Iritana was in the major league of Māoridom. Old enough to have personally known, heard and spoken with the great MP Sir Apirana Ngata and young enough to spearhead a key Māori renaissance initiative, the Kōhanga Reo.
“She had a direct style that generated great support beyond iwi, politics and ethnicity.”
Labour’s Willie Jackson had a long association with Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi.
Labour MP Willie Jackson had a long relationship with Tāwhiwhirangi and said she would be sadly missed.
“She was so special, just an incredible leader, passionate, fearless, courageous, she had it all. As well, she was probably the best motivational speaker I have ever seen. No one could move an audience like her, particularly a Māori audience. She has been immortalised for her work in starting Kōhanga Reo and my wife Tania and I were proud to have known her and be part of her many friends and whānau who loved her very, very much.”
Green Party co-leader Maraman Davidson praised Tāwhiwhirangi’s mahi.
“We send aroha to the whānau, hapū and iwi of Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi in their time of loss. Her legacy will live on in the generations of mokopuna that have been brought up in the Kōhanga Reo movement she sparked so many years ago,” she said.
“The resurgence of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga that we are seeing today is the fruit of her mahi. It is the result of decades of work from people like Dame Iritana who worked tirelessly to empower our communities and build the connection we have to our whakapapa.
Born at Wharekāhika on the east coast, Tāwhiwhirangi was a descendant of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāpuhi. She was a life member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and was made a Dame Companion in 2009 for services to Māori education.
In a post to the Kīngitanga’s Facebook page, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po confirmed she will attend the tangihanga on Wednesday.
“He wahine kaha, he aarero whakatika, he ngaakau nui ki ngaa iwi puta noa. Whoatu ki Te Arikinui me ngaa mana nunui i hii ake Te Kōhanga Reo. Kua pae koe ki te papa hurihanga o ngaa tuupuna, ko te pae o mahara ki a koe e kore e wawe te petapeta noa,” the post read.
Tāwhiwhirangi began teaching in the 1940s and became a welfare officer in Ruatōria, developing playcentres on the East Coast.
The first kōhanga reo was opened in April 1982 in Wainuiomata and the secretary for Māori Affairs at the time, Kara Puketapu, engaged Tāwhiwhirangi to promote Kōhanga Reo throughout the country.
Lady Tureiti Moxon, Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi and Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier. Photo / Supplied
Longtime friend Lady Tureiti Moxon said: “It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Kahurangi [Dame] Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi DNZM MBE, a visionary leader, staunch advocate for Māori language revitalisation, and a lifelong champion of kaupapa Māori education.
“I first came to know Iritana when she worked for the Department of Māori Affairs, and later, when I was employed by the National Kōhanga Reo Trust as the regional coordinator for the Hauraki-Waikato-Maniapoto regions, she became my boss in the early 1990s over 30 years ago.”
Moxon said beyond Kōhanga Reo, Tāwhiwhirangi played a pivotal role in advancing Māori self-determination, with other rangatira such as Tā [Sir] Toby Curtis, Tā [Sir] Wira Gardiner, Kahurangi [Dame] Tariana Turia and Uncle Bill Wiremu Kaua who have all since died.
“Her passing, following so soon after that of Dame Tariana, is a profound moment of grief for te ao Māori. Our aroha and deepest sympathies go out to her whānau, friends, and all those whose lives have been touched and strengthened by her leadership, wisdom and work.
“Moe mai rā, e kui. Haere ki tua o te arai, ki ō tūpuna e tatari ana ki a koe. Moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.”
Tāwhiwhirangi will be taken to Te Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae in Gisborne, where she will lie until Thursday before being taken to Rāhui Marae in Tikitiki.
She will be laid to rest at Porourangi Tāwhiwhirangi Urupā, alongside her late husband Porourangi Tāwhiwhirangi and her two children Tangopahika (Boy) and Heni Whakamaungarangi.
