Tag Archives: Indigenous > Maori

Rehutai Maihi

While she may not always have achieved her aims, through her persistence she not only stood for Parliament but maintained on her own a Māori-language newspaper. Well known and respected among Māori and Pākehā, she was rightly remembered as ‘a busy wheel’.

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Lena Matewai Ruru

After her father’s death in 1943 Lena and her brother Eru continued his work, dealing with numerous issues affecting Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Whānau-a-Taupara land and the Mangatū blocks. She became one of the first women to chair a Māori block committee (Whaitiri No 2), and served on the East Coast Māori Trust Council.

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Rangimārie Hetet

With the establishment of the Māori Women’s Welfare League in 1951, Rangimārie joined as a founding member. She began teaching traditional Māori weaving to women within the community as well as in schools. She wanted to retain the traditional art form, which at that time was in jeopardy, and the league proved an ideal platform for its revival.

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Niniwa-i-te-rangi

From the late 1890s Niniwa-i-te-rangi carved out a unique position for herself. She was considered a leader of Māori affairs and was the only woman whose views were sought when the Native Affairs Committee inquired into the Native Lands Settlement and Administration Bill of 1898. She regularly spoke on the marae in a district in which this was not a common practice. She became known around the country, beginning in the days when Tamahau sent her out as Pāpāwai’s ambassador to solicit attendance at the Māori parliaments. Her knowledge of whakapapa and tradition was extensive and contributed to the work of the Tāne-nui-a-rangi committee.

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Iriaka Matiu Rātana

New Zealand politician Iriaka Rātana was to serve in the House for 20 years. She was an unusual politician in her early years, unsophisticated yet eloquent, gentle and invariably polite.

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