June Mariu

Mariu was chosen to serve as the first patron to New Zealand's largest Māori public health body, Hāpai Te Hauora Tapui back in 2014. She had the honour of being officially appointed by King Tūheitia. Mariu was the representative for Hapai Te Hauora. Her relation Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi is also currently in this group as a companion member due to her work for Māori language revival.

Between 1987 and 1990, she served as national president of the Māori Women's Welfare League. Mariu was appointed a member of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission in 2000 by Parekura Horomia.

June Mariu served as the 12th National President of the Māori Women's Welfare League from 1987 until 1990. Her predecessor was the late Dame Georgina Kirby, who started the Māori Women's Development Initiative (MWDI), and her successor was the late Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts.

In 1987, following the publication of "Rapuora - Health and Māori Women" by past president Dr Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie, a partnership proposal based on Healthy Lifestyles for the prevention of cardio-vascular disease among Māori was accepted by the then Department of Health. Mariu lead the initiative as her commitment to making a healthy lifestyle difference for Māori women and their families using netball as the vehicle of change. Thus the beginning of Aotearoa Māori Netball Oranga Healthy Lifestyle (AMNOHL) in 1988. For many years she was the National Coordinator of Aotearoa Māori Netball. Through AMNOHL, Aotearoa has seen some of our best Māori players on the international stage. Players like Waimarama Taumaunu, Dame Noeline Taurua, Jenny-May Clarkson, and Temepara Bailey.

In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mariu was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services. In the 2006 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community, and in 2012 she was promoted to Dame Companion presented by Jerry Mateparae, also for services to Māori and the community. She continues to inspire many people from the grassroots up.

June married her late husband, Joseph Mariu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga at the now historical church in Raukokore in 1961. Joseph Mariu is a relative of the late Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, The Most Reverend Max Mariu. The two settled in Te Atatū North (now Te Atatū Peninsula) in West Auckland amongst many other Māori who left their rural homelands for an urban setting. In 1962, June and Joseph had their first daughter Alice Mariu. Three years later in 1965 their second daughter, Jonyne Mariu was born. She was named after June's uncle, well known educator Hoani Waititi.

Mariu has represented New Zealand in two sporting codes. As a netball stalwart she was the first winning captain and the first Māori captain of the national team (now known as the Silver Ferns) in 1960. She also represented New Zealand in indoor basketball. She also played softball regionally for Auckland and North Island teams. Mariu was inducted into the Māori Sports Awards Hall of Fame in February 2014 joining many other notable Māori sports people like Dame Ruia Morrison.

Playing under the recently-adopted international rules of seven-a-side, the 1960 Silver Ferns set off across the Tasman for a 15-game tour 22 years after their historic first-ever Test against Australia.

It was the first national team to undertake a full scale tour, which included three Tests and 12 other games, the team from 1960 representing a new breed of player and laying the foundation for the game as we know it today.

Mariu was a North Island Softball representative between 1956 and 1957.

"June Mariu’s selection as the 22nd Silver Fern had historical significance for the New Zealand team. With the first team to be selected since 1948, the 1960 edition proved the turning point for Netball in New Zealand and with it, the start of the modern era for the sport in this country.

Dame Mabel June Hinekahukura Mariu DNZM CNZM QSM JP (née Waititi, born 1 June 1932), known by most as "Aunty June", is a New Zealand Māori community leader, teacher, former sportswoman and served as a Justice of the Peace for many years before retiring.

Mariu was born in Wharekahika on 1 June 1932. Her mother was Dorothy Waititi (née Tihore) of Wharekahika in Ngāti Porou, and her father was Manihera Waititi (older brother to Hoani Waititi) of Cape Runaway in Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. Mariu spent her first few years living in Wharekahika with her maternal grandparents. Patihana Tihore her grandfather was of Ngāti Porou descent, and Alice Tihore (née Gill) of Yorkshire, United Kingdom was her grandmother. When her grandmother passed away in 1937, Mariu and her grandfather left Wharekahika to stay with her parents and younger brothers, Arthur and Winston, at Otamaroa, Cape Runaway. Mariu's hapū are Te Whānau a Kauaetangohia (Cape Runaway) and Te Whānau a Tūwhakairiora (Wharekahika).