June Mariu

Dame Mabel June Hinekahukura Mariu (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 has represented New Zealand in two sporting codes.

Mariu was born in Wharekahika on 1 June 1932.

Her mother was Dorothy Waititi (née Tihore) of Ngāti Porou at Wharekahika, and her father was Manihera Waititi (older brother to Hoani Waititi) of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui at Cape Runaway.

Mariu spent her first few years living in Wharekahika with her maternal grandparents.

Her grandfather Patihana Tihore was of Ngāti Porou, and Alice Tihore (née Gill) of Yorkshire, England, 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 (father of Rawiri), at Otamaroa, Cape Runaway.

Mariu's hapū are Te Whānau a Kauaetangohia (Cape Runaway) and Te Whānau a Tūwhakairiora (Wharekahika).

Mariu left her East Coast homeland at the age of thirteen to attend Queen Victoria School for Māori Girls, a boarding school facilitated by the Anglican Church, in Parnell, Auckland.

After high school, Mariu went on to a sporting career before settling down in West Auckland as a teacher and later a community leader.

"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.

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.

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.

Elevated from the Auckland provincial team, shooter Mariu, 28, was named the Silver Ferns fifth captain and entrusted with leading a 10-strong team on their trailblazing mission.

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.

Growing up in Hicks Bay on the East Coast, she was a natural athlete from early on and, as well as Netball, went on to become a national softball and indoor basketball representative.

Well suited to the playmaking role of goal attack, she had the distinction of becoming New Zealand’s first winning captain when the Silver Ferns prevailed 49-40 in the first Test, on the grass centre tennis court in Adelaide.

In mirroring the trans-Tasman rivalry that has long since continued, they lost the second Test in Melbourne 44-39 and suffered a heart-breaking 46-45 loss in the final Test.

June married Joseph Mariu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga at the historical church in Raukokore in 1961.

Joseph Mariu was a relative of Max Mariu, the Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton.

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 still lives in Te Atatū Peninsula with her daughters Alice and Jonyne, and three grandchildren.

In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mariu was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services.

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.

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.

Mariu has had strong ties with the Māori King Movement through the first Māori Queen, Te Atairangikaahu, as well as through her iwi of Te Whānau a Apanui.

She later became a member of the Tekau-Ma-Rua, a group of representatives from across the country, chosen by the current Māori King, Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII.

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.

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.

June Mariu has supported Te Pāti Māori since its inception, including giving her support to the former ministers and co-leaders Tariana Turia, Pita Sharples and Te Ururoa Flavell.