Dame Tariana Turia DNZM (1944 - 2025) was a New Zealand Māori rights activist and politician. She was first elected to Parliament in 1996 as a representative of the Labour Party. She won the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate in 2002 and broke from Labour in 2004, resigning from Parliament during the foreshore and seabed controversy. She founded the Māori Party, and served as its co-leader from 2004 to 2014. One of the most consequential acts of political courage in recent NZ political history