When Rowena Tana got the email telling her she has been awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in this year’s New Year Honours, she thought: “What the heck?!”
And while it was a surprise to her, news of her award in recognition of her work supporting Northland’s Māori communities will not be a surprise to those familiar with the 63-year-old.
Tana (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu, Te Kapotai, Ngāti Kawa, Te Orewai, Ngāti Te Ara, Ngāpuhi) says her dedication has been driven by a sense of duty passed down through generations.
She joined the Ngāti Hine Health Trust in 2017 and became its chair in 2021. The trust delivers high-quality health and disability, social, educational, youth, housing and broadcasting services in Kawakawa, Whangārei and wider Northland but every success was a team effort, Tana said.
For the past 17 years - and still going - Tana has been involved with the Waitangi Tribunal claims process. In 2014, she presented to the Waitangi Tribunal and the then Minister of Treaty Negotiations on behalf of Ngāti Hine.
Her commitment was sparked when she attended a hui between the Ngāpuhi Design Group and the tribunal and Crown to determine how hearings would take place.
“I heard what the people were saying and I was absolutely, I guess, hooked,” Tana said. “I wanted to be a part of that.”
Outside that work, she coordinates the Ngāti Hine Kaumātua Roopu which provides kai and a place for conversations between kaumātua and kuia on community issues.
She served as secretary of the Motatau Marae Trustees committee from 2007 to 2023, and was secretary for Te Runanga o Ngāti Hine from 2010 to 2023.
Tana is also involved in the re-conservation of historic sites, including Te Ruapekapeka Pa and battle site and the Taumarere river catchment clean-up.
She was a trustee for the Kawakawa Hundertwasser Memorial Park Trust from 2017 to 2022 and during its Te Hononga building development.
She is also a Justice of the Peace and has been a member of the Oranga Marae Committee since 2021.
Where does this drive to serve others come from?
Tana nodded to her grandfather Sir James Hēnare, who led the Māori Battalion at the end of World War II. The farmer and iwi leader was a passionate advocate of Māori rights, culture, and te reo, founding kohanga reo, but also was a strong believer in Aotearoa’s bicultural foundations.
“Our family motto has been, from him: service towards one’s people before service to one’s self,” she said.
Tana called serving the Māori community a “real honour” and “a privilege”.
She credited her tūpuna who set her pathway to service and also the people of Ngāpuhi who nurture and empower her to do what she does.
" ... and my whānau who have given me to the people,” Tana said.
“So much to be grateful for.”
The best part of what she does, she says, are the people.
“A beautiful lot of people wrapped around me and working as part of a team that delivers helpful outcomes for whānau is the standout.”
Karina Cooper is news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She has a special interest in getting to the heart of a story.