Maureen Waaka
{{Short description|New Zealand beauty pageant winner and politician}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Maureen Waaka
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|JP|size=100%}}
|image = Maureen Kingi, Miss New Zealand.png
|caption =
|birth_name = Maureen Te Rangi Rere I Waho Kingi
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|10|05|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Ohinemutu, New Zealand
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|07|01|1942|10|05|df=yes}}
|death_place = Rotorua, New Zealand
|other_names =
|spouse = {{Marriage| John Waaka| 1963}}
|children = 5
|relatives =
|known_for =
|occupation = {{Cslist|Politician|radiographer|former beauty queen}}
|nationality =
}}
Maureen Te Rangi Rere I Waho Waaka {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|JP}} (née Kingi, 5 October 1942 – 1 July 2013) was Miss New Zealand 1962, the second Māori woman to win the title. She later became a local-body politician, serving on the Rotorua District Council for 18 years. Of Māori descent, she identified with the Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Whakaue iwi.{{cite news |title=Politicians pay tribute to Maureen Waaka |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/politicians-pay-tribute-to-maureen-waaka/GTW63EVKK76X5URS5CYOMK5X6A/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526082315/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503438&objectid=11103535 |archive-date=26 May 2014 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |date=1 July 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Matthew |title=District councillor Maureen Waaka dies |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/district-councillor-maureen-waaka-dies/7PJRP3MVZL3MOVTSBHEVPKBL44/ |work=Rotorua Daily Post |date=1 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717193006/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/district-councillor-maureen-waaka-dies/7PJRP3MVZL3MOVTSBHEVPKBL44/ |archive-date=17 July 2022}}
Early life and education
Waaka was born in 1942.{{cite news | url=http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/native-affairs-tribute-2013 | title= Native Affairs – Tribute 2013 | date=4 November 2013 | work=Māori Television | access-date=24 May 2014 | first=Mihingarangi | last=Forbes}}{{cite news | url=http://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?n=maureen-te-rangirere-i-waho-waaka-kingi&pid=171548880 | title=In memoriam | date=1 July 2014 | work=New Zealand Herald | access-date=6 July 2014}} Her father was an interpreter for the Māori Affairs Department in Rotorua and she was a niece of Hepi Te Heuheu VII.{{cite journal |title=A Letter from Maureen |journal=Te Ao Hou / The New World |date=September 1962 |issue=42 |page=2 |url=http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao40TeA/c1.html |access-date=19 November 2020}}
She was raised at Ohinemutu where she came under the influence of Guide Rangi. She attended Rotorua High School, where in her final year she was a prefect and received the Maori Purposes Fund Prize for being the top Māori girl at the school.{{cite web |title=Maureen Kingi |url=https://www.komako.org.nz/person/481 |website=Kōmako: A bibliography of writing by Māori in English |access-date=19 November 2020}} After she left school, she studied radiography at Auckland Hospital.
Miss New Zealand
Waaka was crowned Miss New Zealand in 1962, becoming the second Māori woman to win the title (after Moana Manley in 1954).{{cite news | url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/213373/maureen-waaka-dies-aged-70 | title=Maureen Waaka dies aged 70 | date=1 July 2013 | work= Radio New Zealand News | access-date=1 July 2013 }} She went on to represent New Zealand at the Miss International and Miss World pageants later that year, and was the first Māori woman to compete at Miss World.
In June 1963 she married John Waaka at Ohinemutu. The wedding had 500 guests and was reported on in magazine Te Ao Hou / The New World.{{cite journal |title=The Wedding of the Year |journal=Te Ao Hou / The New World |date=September 1963 |issue=44 |page=24 |url=http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao44TeA/c11.html |access-date=19 November 2020}} He had proposed to her the night before her trip to London for the Miss World pageant in 1963.{{cite news |last1=Nicholas |first1=Jill |title=Our People: John Waaka |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/our-people-john-waaka/NT2UWOPQWTTPWNTCW4SZHKWL3Q/ |access-date=19 November 2020 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |date=19 November 2016}}
Waaka and her husband had five children together.{{cite news | url=http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/former-miss-new-zealand-maureen-waaka-dies-5482697 | title=Former Miss New Zealand Maureen Waaka dies | date=1 July 2013 | work= TVNZ news | access-date=1 July 2013}} They also led the Rotorua International Māori Entertainers performance group for many years, performing Māori songs and poi in concerts at hotels.{{cite web |title=Rotorua International Entertainers |url=https://ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=228941 |website=Ngā Taonga |publisher=The New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound – Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua Me Ngā Taonga Kōrero |access-date=19 November 2020}}{{cite web |title=John & Maureen Waaka present the Rotorua International Maori Entertainers [sound recording]. |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22979743 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=19 November 2020}}
She also returned to her radiography studies, and qualified in 1974.{{cite web |title=Maureen Waaka (nee Kingi) as radiographer |url=https://collection.rotoruamuseum.co.nz/objects/9868 |website=Rotorua Museum |access-date=19 November 2020}}
Political career
Waaka was first elected to the Rotorua District Council in 1989, serving one three-year term. She was re-elected in 1998 and continued to serve until her death in 2013. She also was a member of the Lakes District Health Board for nine years and served as chair of the Māori Tourism Council.{{cite news | title=Ex-Miss NZ hard at work | date=20 September 1998 | work= Sunday Star Times | page=6 |first=Philippa | last=Keane }} She was known as an anti-gambling campaigner, and successfully campaigned against the opening of a casino in Rotorua in 2002.
At the 2002 general election Waaka was a list candidate for the Labour Party. She was ranked at number 73 on the Labour list{{cite news | title=Labour's list | date=29 April 2002 | work= The Dominion | page=2 }} and consequently was not elected.
Waaka was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tourism and the community.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2001 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2001 |date=4 June 2001 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=2 July 2020}} In 2005, she was appointed as a justice of the peace.
Death
Waaka suffered a stroke on 16 June 2013 in Auckland. She died in Rotorua of complications two weeks later, on 1 July 2013. Her tangi was held at Te Papaiouru Marae, Ohinemutu.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Miss International 1962 delegates}}
{{Miss World 1962 delegates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waaka, Maureen}}
Category:Ngāti Tūwharetoa people
Category:Miss New Zealand winners
Category:Miss International 1962 delegates
Category:Miss World 1962 delegates
Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:New Zealand justices of the peace
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election
Category:20th-century New Zealand women politicians
Category:20th-century New Zealand politicians
Category:New Zealand Labour Party politicians