In the 2022 New Year Honours, Māhina-Tuai was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cultures and the arts.

[2] She also worked at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum[1] and for the Vavaʻu Academy for Critical Inquiry and Research.

[6][7] In 2011 she was a member of Falehanga 'i Teleiloa, and project managed the production of a 22-metre ngatu tāʻuli, or black-marked barkcloth, which was commissioned by Queensland Art Gallery.

Alongside the then Minister of Tourism, Semisi Sika, Māhina-Tuai and sculptors Tui’one Pulotu & Steven Fehoko, supported the movement.

[13] In the 2022 New Year Honours, Māhina-Tuai was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cultures and the arts.