Mrs Mate Kaua

Te Ao Hou, March 1962, Page 63

Mrs Mate Kaua Mrs Mate Kaua, a distinguished Maori leader from Gisborne, died last November. Mrs Kaua was President of the Turanga Maori Women's Welfare League and trustee of Poho-o-Rawiri meeting house, a leading member of Holy Trinity Choir, an expert exponent of all aspects of Maori culture, and several times New Zealand Maori Women's Golf Champion. Speaking at a memorial service prior to the funeral, the Rt. Rev. W. N. Panapa, Bishop of Aotearoa, said: ‘She whom we mourn today possessed the rare gift of perfect balance in all phases of life, physical, mental and spiritual. Her example is one which might well inspire others of our Maori race.’ The Bishop referred particularly to the late Mrs Kaua's education in the atmosphere of a Christian school, where her spiritual values were soundly founded. ‘That is how our Maori children should be educated, in circumstances where things of the spirit are given equal weight with things of the world,’ he said. ‘Mate was like a bird in the air, perfectly adjusted to her environment and exercising her powers by instinct. The instinct that guided her was that of faith and responsibility to her own. Women of the quality and spiritual strength of Mate Kaua will have a great influence upon our social, educational and religious advances.’ Attendances both at Church and at the cemetery included strong representations of the European groups in which Mrs Kaua had been active, as well as Maori delegations from all parts of the North Island. Mrs Kaua is survived by her husband, Peter, who is District Maori Welfare Officer Gisborne, and one son.