Tungia Baker was a Maori actress who's notable film roles include Hira in The Piano

The Piano

The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...

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The daughter of noted Ngāti Raukawa elder Matenga Baker of Otaki

Otaki, New Zealand

Otaki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District of the North Island of New Zealand, situated half way between the capital city Wellington, 70 kilometres to the southwest, and Palmerston North, 70 kilometres to the northeast. It marks the northernmost point of the Wellington Region. The town's...

, she was a National Representative of American Field Service, pioneering marae visits for incoming AFS scholars.

She was closely associated with Raukawa Marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

 and Rangiatea Church, Otaki. In the last part of her life, she lived on the West Coast

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

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She died of cancer on 27 July 2005 and is buried in Rangiatea churchyard.