Empire, for services to the Māori people. In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori welfare and culture. In the 1981 New Year Honours, Cooper was further promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people. In 1990, Cooper received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, she became the twentieth appointee to the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civil honour. In 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal. Death and legacy Cooper returned to Panguru in the Hokianga in 1983 and died there, aged 98, in 1994. Her legacy includes calling the 1923 hui that led to the name of Whakarapa being changed to Panguru. She is remembered as a leader who helped to shape New Zealand legislation relating to Māori people, as well as helping to develop the community in Auckland. However she is most remembered for winning over the hearts of so many people when she led the 1975 land march, in both Māori and Pākehā communities. She has also served as an inspiration to other Māori women, such as Tiahuia Abraham, who has been a member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League for 53 years. Memorials On 3 February 2020, a memorial at the Waipuna Marae was unveiled in Panguru, Hokianga, in the presence of prime minister Jacinda Ardern. The bronze statue was a sculptural representation of a famous photograph of Cooper, holding the hand of her granddaughter Irenee Cooper, as they were starting the 1975 land march. Her son, Joe Cooper, unveiled the statue. Ardern promised that her story would be included in the new school history curriculum. Honorific eponym In 2020, the tunnel boring machine that is being used to construct the twin tunnels of the City Rail Link in Auckland between Mount Eden station and Aotea station was named "Dame Whina Cooper". Film Cooper is the subject of a biographical film called Whina, which was released in selected cinemas on 23 June 2022. The film was directed by James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones. Cooper was portrayed by Miriama McDowell and Rena Owen, with the former portraying an adult, and the latter an elderly, Cooper. See also Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 References Further reading King, Michael (2003). Cooper, Whina