| Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts | |
| Birth Name: | Aroha Hōhipera Crofts |
| Birth Date: | 28 August 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Tuahiwi, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Order: | 13th President of the Māori Women's Welfare League |
| Term: | 1990–1993 |
| Predecessor: | June Mariu |
| Successor: | Areta Koopu |
| Party: | Māori Party |
| Spouse: | Peter Reriti |
| Children: | 4 |
Dame Aroha Hōhipera Reriti-Crofts (née Crofts; 28 August 1938 – 20 May 2022) was a New Zealand community worker who was national president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League.[1]
Reriti-Crofts was born Aroha Hōhipera Crofts at Tuahiwi on 28 August 1938, the daughter of Metapere Ngawini Crofts (née Barrett) and Edward Teoreohua Crofts.[2] Of Māori descent, she affiliated to Ngāi Tahu, and was educated at Te Waipounamu Maori Girls' College in Christchurch.[2] She married Peter Reriti, and the couple had four children.[2]
From 1978 to 1979, Reriti-Crofts returned to study as an adult student at Aranui High School in Christchurch, and went on to complete a teaching diploma at Christchurch Teachers' College in 1983.[2]
Reriti-Crofts died in Christchurch on 20 May 2022, aged 83 years.[3]
From the age of seven, Reriti-Crofts was involved in kapa haka: she was co-tutor of the Māori cultural performance group at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch and was head tutor of a similar group at the 1975 New Zealand Games, also held in Christchurch.[2] She set a world endurance record for a poi performance at 30 hours 19 minutes.[2]
Reriti-Crofts joined the Ōtautahi Māori Women’s Welfare League in 1968 and served as secretary of the branch in the 1970s. In 1990, she was elected national president.[2] Her involvement in other community organisations included serving as a trustee of Te Puawaitanga ki Ōtautahi Trust, the Māori Women’s Development Incorporated, Mana Waitaha Charitable Trust and Maori Reserve Lands: Tuahiwi/North Canterbury, She was a kaiwhakamana of the Department of Corrections and chairperson of Matapopore – Tūāhuriri Rūnanga.[4] She was particularly involved with health initiatives in Māori communities, such as Tamariki Ora (well-child), Rapuora (mobile nursing service), outreach immunisation, flu vaccinations for older people and breastfeeding advocacy.[5]
At the 2014 and 2017 general elections, Reriti-Crofts unsuccessfully contested in the Waimakariri electorate representing the Māori Party.[6] [7]
In 1972, Reriti-Crofts was named as Young Māori Woman of the Year.[2] In 1977, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1993 she received the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[2] [8]
In the 1993 New Year Honours, Reriti-Crofts was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori and the community. In 2016, she was a runner-up for the Māori/Pacific Health Volunteer Award from the New Zealand Ministry of Health.[9] In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community.[10]