The previous year, when she was in her final year at high school, Anae lost seven members of her family – five in a plane crash in Samoa that killed everyone on board. She was left searching for answers she couldn’t find in the Bible. She openly questioned God’s cruel intentions but admitted she felt his favour in another way. “I had taken six months out of school to look after Mum, who had Hodgkin’s disease, so it was a miracle when I passed the exams and got a bursary to get into university,” she says. “I was on a destructive, agnostic pathway because I was just so angry. How could God take away my family? Seven of us, gone.”
Poroporoaki: Miriama Rauhihi Ness | LiveNews co nz
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Polynesian Panthers honour Miriama Rauhihi Ness for dedicating her life to fight for Māori rights
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