Tributes are being paid to the Bay of Plenty school principal and up-and-coming Maori leader killed outside a Whakatane bar at the weekend.
Hawea Ralph Drummond Vercoe, 36, died after he was apparently punched to the ground outside the Quart House bar on Whakatane's The Strand, about 2.30am yesterday.
A 21-year-old Opotiki man will appear in Whakatane District Court today charged with murder, police said.
Mr Vercoe was principal of Rotorua school Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Rotoiti, a Maori seat councillor on Environment Bay of Plenty and on the Rotorua District Council's Te Arawa standing committee.
Mr Vercoe also made headlines in 2007 when he advocated for his school to be allowed Maori "kura" - or "school" - signs on its buses, leading to a policy change by Land Transport New Zealand.
Maori Television presenter Julian Wilcox told 3News Mr Vercoe was a good teacher and a good principal.
"He devoted his life to a lot of those kids, but he was really admired by both his tribes Ngati Awa and Te Arawa because he wanted to work for the people."
He gained the respect of Maori leaders in his own right when he stood for the Destiny Party at the 2005 general election, Mr Wilcox said.
"In 2005 he ran against Te Ururoa Flavell and everyone knew that Te Ururoa was going to win, but he still stood and a lot of people respected the fact that he did it."
And Mr Flavell, Maori Party MP for Waiariki, also paid tribute to Mr Vercoe.
"Hawea was a young man with enormous energy for life who had achieved a significant profile across Aotearoa in education, politics and local government.
"He was committed to ensuring the children attending his kura were educated in the widest sense of the word. He took them to the hikoi against the police raids on terrorism and he involved the kura in the launching of Google Maori.
"Hawea gave his all in everything he did."
Mr Flavell said some would focus on the more recent controversial incidents. Mr Vercoe had brushes with the law this year.
In September he was convicted of threatening behaviour towards his former wife's new partner, who he allegedly threatened to put in a wheelchair. He was ordered to pay $400 court costs, and faced losing his job at the school.
However, Mr Flavell said "we must not lose sight of the fact that Hawea was a brilliant young man with a sharp intellect who was a passionate advocate for Maori".
"Our thoughts are with his whanau, hapu and iwi of Ngati Awa and Te Arawa and the greater community of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Rotoiti who will greatly feel the loss of this dynamic leader - a young man lost in the prime of his life."
Quart House owner Grant Webb said Mr Vercoe's family was yesterday blessing and performing a karakia on the street outside the bar.
"It's heartbreaking for the town, heartbreaking for us and especially heartbreaking for the people I'm seeing outside right now."
NZPA