Piatarihi Beatrice (Bea) Tui Yates

Te Arawa, Tainui, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Uenuku Kōpako, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Awa

1939 -



Bea was born in Rotorua and was educated at Whangamarino Primary School, Okere Falls from 1944-52, and Rotorua High School from While at high school, she was prefect, house captain and Māori Club leader. After high school she attended Auckland Teachers’ Training College from 1958-59 where she was Women’s President of the Māori Club in 1959 and gained a Teachers’ College Diploma (N.Z.T.T.C) in 1960. In 1961 she was awarded a Training College Certificate. Her first teaching position was at Rotokawa School in 1960 where she spent the next twenty years teaching. She was the first itinerant teacher in the Māori language and worked in this position for three years, visiting ten schools a week. She was principal of Te Whare Wananga Rotorua Cultural Centre School of Learning from She has worked for ten years at Rotorua Lakes High School Māori Language Linking Scheme, incorporating one intermediate and seven primary schools plus all the third forms at Lakes High School. She started writing in 1975. She wrote the song "One Day a Taniwha Went Swimming in the Moana"; she put this song into booklet form. She wrote the first Māori reader book published in 1983; "a further five readers are held by the Education Department". "I started [writing] because I wanted to get Pakeha kids enthused. Bringing Māori words and isolating them. My main aim was not really to write for Māori kids but for both. I began to write Māori resources when I was an itinerant; I was the resource and I began to compile resources. I went to the Tauranga Literature Association to lecture and shared from the heart and told them why I started to write. From then on my stories were seen. Mrs Price, the headmaster’s wife at Lakes High School, got me to send stories to Learning Media and they were accepted. I started writing for Moana Press and Tapu sold well". She has completed papers at Teachers’ Outpost at Waikato and Massey and has a bilingual Language Diploma and Higher Diploma in Teaching (1991) from the University of Waikato. In 1997 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She visits many schools speaking at school book weeks all around the Rotorua area; she also goes to guilds and clubs to talk about books and Māori language. She has been a member of many cultural groups, including the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Cultural Group for six years. She has been a Māori warden for seven years. She is a Cultural Ambassador for New Zealand and has made thirteen visits overseas in this position. She recently went to Japan to encourage people to come to New Zealand with Air New Zealand. She is a member of the Rotorua Operatic Society. For five years she was a Te Takinga Marae Trustee and was a Punawhakareia Trustee for two years. For four years she was a Haumingi Trustee and for two years a Takeke Women’s Health League member. She is still writing and is still promoting writing. She wrote articles for Kiwi Kids in Tauranga in 1991. She has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal (1993), Zonta Award (1995), Paul Harris Fellowship Rotary Award (1997) and the N.Z. Toastmasters Community Award (1998).

Biographical sources

  • Correspondence and interview with Bea Yates on 30 August 1992 and 24 August 1998.

    Other

  • Hoha the Taniwha. Kiwi Kids. No details.
  • ‘A story about a taniwha who lived in a cave on Mokoia Island.’
  • Hohepa the Bull.
  • A playlet acted out by Owhata Primary School.
  • Hoha the Taniwha.
  • "World-Wide Cooking in N. Z." New Zealand Woman [incorporating Stitch] 21.12 (Sept. 1969): 20-22.
  • Yates provides seven recipes which conclude a series of "World-Wide Cooking in N.Z."
  • Hera and her Kuri. Illus. Jenny Madgwick. Rotorua, N.Z.: Rotorua Printers, 1983.
  • A simple bilingual text for the junior school.
  • "Māori Book School Bound." Daily Post Rotorua, 1983.
  • "An opening that had it all." TAANZ Daily Bulletin. Oct 1984. TAANZ Convention held at Sheraton Rotorua from 2-7 October 1984.
  • Hohepa te Puru. Ko nga pikitia na Lesley Moyes. [Illus. Lesley Moyes]. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington], N.Z.: Te Ropu Mahipukapukakura, Te Tari Matauranga, 1986.
  • Māori language text for children with a glossary in Māori and English at the conclusion.
  • Papa. Piatarihi Yates na Roger Hart ngā pikitia [Illus. Roger Hart]. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington], N.Z.: I taia e te Ropu Whakata o Te Tari Kawanatanga Ta Pukapuka, 1986.
  • Māori language text for children with an English translation of the text and a glossary in Māori and English at the conclusion. The text explores the role of a father in a home.
  • Māmā. Ko te kākono mō te kōrero nā Piatarihi Yates. [Concept by Piatarihi Yates]. Ko te kaituhi ko Henare Everitt. [Writ. Henare Everitt]. Ko ngā pikitia nā Deidre Gardiner. [Illus. Deidre Gardiner]. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington], N.Z.: Te Rōpu Mahipukapukakura: Te Tari Mātauranga, 1986.
  • In this Māori language text for children the various roles of a mother are explored. The book contains a Māori-English word list.
  • Tu Tangata 30 (July 1986): 59.
  • Dryden, Mary. Te Karanga: Canterbury Māori Studies Association 2.3 (Nov. 1986): 39.
  • Tapu: A Legend Of Rotorua. Illus. June Grant. Tauranga, N.Z.: Moana, 1987.
  • A bilingual story about a Rotorua legend concerning tapu.
  • "School critics anger Māori language teacher." Rotorua Review 4 Dec. 1987.
  • Morris, William E. (Ted). "Beatrice Yates." Please Turn The Page: The Importance of Literature to the Growing Child. Tauranga, N.Z.: Tauranga Moana, [1987]. 39-44.
  • This biographical article which includes quotations by Yates, discusses Yates’ great contribution to Māori language and culture teaching to school children in the Rotorua area.
  • Conal, Margaret. "Tapu by Bea Yates. A Te Awa-iti Book Review." Te Awa-iti 20 Nov. 1987: 8.
  • "Lake Legend Retold." Daily Post 25 Nov. 1987.
  • Greer, Margaret. "Other Books: Other Languages." Little Treasures 8 (1988): 56-57.
  • Hebley, Diane. "Children’s Books: Containing Chaos." Listener 23 Apr. 1988: 74-76.
  • Stiles, Carla. "The Meaning Of Tapu In Story And Lesson." Southland Times 22 Oct. 1988.
  • Pererika te Poraka. Na Sally McAra ngā pikitia [Illus. Sally McAra]. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington], N.Z.: Te Pou Taki Kōrero/Learning Media; Te Tahuhu o te Matauraga/Ministry of Education, 1990.
  • Māori language text for children with Nga kupu/a word list at the end of the book.
  • "A Day In The Life Of Bea Yates Māori Warden." Rotorua Review 3 Aug. 1990.
  • Koro Pokiha. Wellington, N.Z.: Kotuku, 1992.
  • ‘A true story which teaches Marae Kawa and a small girl’s first visit to a tangi. The story also pays tribute to our Te Arawa elder Te Pokiha Hemana.’
  • "Rotorua Author’s 8th Book Out." Daily Post 24 Sep. 1992: 3.
  • Smith, Liz. "‘Aunty Bea’ Q.S.M." Te Māori News 2.19 (1993): 6.
  • "Elections 1993 Beatrice Yates Q.S.M. (New Zealand First Candidate)." Daily Post 28 Oct. 1993.
  • "Election 931-Tarawera." Bay of Plenty Times 30 Oct. 1993: 8.
  • "Tina Reels Them In." Rotorua Review 18 July 1995.
  • "Women Honoured for Achievements." Daily Post 11 Nov. 1995.
  • "Māori Festival A Big Success." Daily Post 31 May 1996.
  • Blanchard, Kelly. "‘Aunty Bea’ Owes It All To Mum - And A Big Wig." The Daily Post 6 May 1997.
  • "Mrs Beatrice Yates Receives Paul Harris Fellowship Award." Daily Post 2 July 1997.
  • Collins, Liz. "Happy 60th Birthday Aunty Bea." Daily Post 17 Sept. 1999: Sup.3.
  • Taylor, Cherie. "Busy Bea Gives Students A Buzz." Daily Post 4 Oct. 2003: A1.
  • Taylor, Cherie. "Don’t Let Them Go Hungry." Daily Post 18 Aug. 2005: A3.
  • MacFarlane, Kristin. "Aunty Bea…You’re Simply The Best!" Daily Post 13 Oct. 2005: A1.
  • MacFarlane, Kristin. "Mucking In To Treat Rotorua’s Aunty Bea." Daily Post 10 Nov. 2005: A3.
  • Taylor, Cherie. "Hundreds Got Stuck In To Muck In For Aunty Bea." Daily Post 22 Nov. 2005: A2.
  • "Why I love Rotorua." Daily Post 27 Sept. 2006: A13.
  • "Beautifying Bea’s Backyard." Mana: The Māori News Magazine For All New Zealanders 68 (2006): 52.
  • Mum’s the Word: About Mums, by Mums, for Mums. Compiled by Vanessa Sunde, Ann Andrews and Kenina Court. Hamilton, N.Z.: Phantom, 2007.
  • Eriksen, Alanah May. "Hungry Kids Break Aunty Bea’s Heart." Daily Post 10 Feb. 2007: A1.
  • Taylor, Cherie. "Thanks Heaps, Mum." Daily Post 27 Nov. 2007: A9.