October 11, 2017
Nursing fraternity pays tribute to kuia Vera Morgan
The Nurses Organisation is remembering the contribution its kuia Vera Morgan made to making sure Maori voices were heard through the union.
The Te Mahurehure kuia passed away home in Wellington on Sunday aged 100, and taken to Te Awhina Marae in Motueka, where she will be laid to rest beside her husband Kiwa Morgan.
Nurses kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says her age was no barrier to Mrs Morgan taking an active role in the union.
"She was one of those nannies, those aunties that sit there and don't say much but you can read their expressions by the look on their face and she was always for me one of those women that you'd be petrified with because she was in there to ensure the mana of Maori was maintained, so if she felt things were compromising or the head and the heart weren't connected, she would be one of the people to pull you in line," Ms Nuku says.
She will draw on Vera Morgan's example hen she addresses the congress of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders on how the indigenous voice should never be lost from forums.
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