Hone Kaa

Who was Hone Kaa?

Archdeacon Hone Kaa was an Auckland-based Anglican church leader, child welfare advocate and social-justice campaigner. He was a Māori of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent.

Born to Rev. Tipi and Hohipine Kaa at Rangitukia on the East Cape, where Tipi was Vicar of Waiapu, Kaa grew up in Rangitukia and Bombay where he attended St. Stephen's School. His sister Keri Ngapera Kaa rose to become chair of the UNESCO New Zealand Culture Commission and won a 2011 AMP award to publish te reo Māori audio books. Hone trained as a priest at St John's Theological College in Auckland from 1963 to 1965, then got a BA in Maori studies and a MA in Education at the University of Auckland. Kaa then left for a DMin at the Episcopal Divinity School at Harvard University.

After working in parishes in Taupō and Porangahau, Kaa returned to Auckland to the Auckland Anglican Maori Mission, where he was minister from 1977 to 1983, and to St John's College. He rose to become Archdeacon of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Kaa was involved with the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia and a figurehead in the New Zealand support for the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. He was White Ribbon Ambassador for anti-domestic violence organisation The White Ribbon Campaign. He was considered to be a "gay community friend".