Cathy Dewes ONZM
Cathy Dewes, of Rotorua, received the Insignia of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori. Ms Dewes has been a leader in Māori education for 35 years. She was one of a group that instigated Māori Language Day in 1975, which later became Māori Language Week. She was instrumental in the establishment of Kura Kaupapa Māori schools throughout New Zealand, and is the principal of a landmark total immersion school, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata, in Rotorua. She was Chair of Te Runanganui o Kura Kaupapa Māori, the national body for Kura Kaupapa Māori, and has been an advisor on Kura Kaupapa Māori to the Ministry of Education. She was the first woman to be elected to the former Te Arawa Māori Trust Board. Ms Dewes is a board member for both Māori Television and Te Reo Irirangi o Te Arawa Radio Station.