Former Ngā Tamatoa and Polynesian Panther member Miriama Rauhihi Ness is being remembered as a wahine toa who was able to cut across divisions in her fights for justice.
The wife of musician Tigilau Ness and mother of singer Che Fu died yesterday.
Fellow Polynesian Panther Will Ilolahia says she first came to the attention of the group for standing up for the rights of the Pacific Island women in the sewing factory she worked in as an 18-year-old new to the city from Foxton.
"We were so privileged to have her in the Panthers because she was able to cut a lot of the ice, especially in those days because there was a lot of friction between Māori coming from little Aotearoa and us coming down from the islands. So she was able to cut across that and she became out first paid worker in the Panthers. She was also our minister of culture," he says.
Will Ilolahia says through Miriama Rauhihi the Panthers became involved in supporting the 1975 Māori Land March, and she was also a marshall for Patu Squad during the Springbok Tour protests of 1981.
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