Ka ahu mai ngā mana katoa i ngā atua. Mō te wahine Māori, ka pūpū ake tēnei mana i te ara uwha o Tahu, i te matua whaea i a Papatūānuku me ētahi atua wāhine Māori.
Kei ngā kōrero o te ōrokohanga, ko Papatūānuku te atua wahine mātāmua, whai muri i a ia ko Hineahuone i pokea e Tāne i te one ki Kurawaka. Whai muri i a ia ko Hinetītama. I taki rere ia ki Rarohēnga nō te mōhio ko tōna hoa tāne ko Tāne tonu tōna matua.
I roto i ngā kōrero mō Māui he maha ngā atua wāhine ka whai wāhi ki ōna hautipuatanga. Na tōna kuia a Murirangawhenua i tuku i tōna kauae ki a ia, i hīia ake ai Te Ika-ā-Māui, i patua ai a Tamanui-te-rā. I tōna tūpono ki a Mahuika ka riro mai te ahi. Pō noa katia rawatia ai a Māui ki ngā kūhā tonu o Hine-nui-te-pō.
E whakahira ana ēnei kōrero i te mana o te wahine inā hoki tā ratou ako i a Māui ki te mātauranga e tutuki i a ia ngā mahi. Ka mutu nō te patunga o Māui i ngā kūhā o te wahine, he tohu anō tērā ki te tapu o te whare tangata, me ōna mana whakanoa.
Ko ētahi atua wāhine kei ngā kōrero o Tinirau rāua ko Kae. Ko ēnei mareikura te kapa haka tuatahi o te ao Māori. Kāti, ko te atua o te whakawhānau tamariki me te whare pora ko Hineteiwaiwa ko Hineraukatamea te atua o te ngahau, ko te atua o te pūoro ko Hineraukatauri. Ko te āria o Hineraukatauri ko te pēpepe, arā i tauiratia mai ai i te taonga pūoro te pūtōrino.
Ko ētahi āhuatanga taiao he atua wāhine tonu. Ko Hinepūkohurangi, arā ko te kohu, ko Hinepūtehue, te atua o te hue tae atu ki a Hinemoana, atua o ngā tai. Ko Hineraumati rāua ko Hinetakurua hoki ērā, tae atu anō ki a Whaitiri.
Ko Rona whakamautai te marama, ā, kei ētahi kōrero hei tamāhine ia mā Tangaroa.
Arā atu anō ngā tipua wahine, taniwha kaitiaki hoki o ētahi tohu whenua. Ki tā Tūhoe, nā Haumapuhia i whakairo te roto o Waikaremoana i tōna nanaiore kia puta ki te moana. Ko Āraiteuru tērā taniwha i ārahi i te waka o Māmari mai i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa. E kī ana te kōrero kei te noho tonu ia ki tētahi ana kei te kūrae tonga o te wahapū o Hokianga hei kaitiaki mō te tangata whenua.
Kei ngā kōrero o Ngāti Mahaki ko ngā wāhine tokowhā a Tamaahua he momo pounamu kei te Tai Poutini arā ko Takiwai, ko Aotea, ko Pounamu, ko Auhuka.
Ko te wahine te whare tangata o te ao Māori, ā, he tūnga whakahirahira tōna i roto i te koiora o te tangata me ōna uri whakaheke. E whai mana anō ana te wahine i tōna mana whakawhānau ora ka mutu he mea whakarite ki a Papatūānuku rawa. Ko ngā kīanga mō te whare tangata he rite ki ērā mō te whenua. Otirā ko te ewe whenua me te one whenua he kotahi. Whai muri i te whānautanga ka nehua te ewe whenua ki te one whenua hei tāmau i te tangata me te whenua.
He tapu te wahine i te wā o tōna mate marama, i ngā āhuatanga tapu hoki o te rere o te toto. Nō te āhua ki tōna tapu ka rāhuitia te wahine i ngā wāhi noa – he takahi atua tērā mēnā ka pā te wahine ki ngā wāhi noa. Kore rawa te wahine toto e kuhu i ngā whare matā (mō ngā tawhiti), ki ngā māra, ki te takutai, ki ngā wāhi kai, ā, kāore e pā ki te tangata. Ka whakaarotia he mate kino ka haere ki te takahia ēnei tikanga.
He mana nui tō te aroaro o te wahine ki te whakanoa. Ko ngā wāhine mātāmua ka mutu ki a rātou te mate o te wahine ka kīia he ruahine. He tūnga nui hoki tō rātou i ngā pure whakanoa.
Nā tōna mana whakanoa ka kore rawa te wahine e takahi i te ūpoko o te tangata kei tānoatia te mana me te tapu o taua tangata. Heoi kia hoki mai ngā toa i te pakanga me ngōki ratou mā raro i ngā kūhā o te ruahine hei whakawātea i a ratou i ngā tapu nui o te patu tangata me te maringi toto. I ngā tānga kawa whare, ko te puhi ka tomo tuatahi hei whakanoa i te whare.
E pōhēhē ana ētahi kaituhi nā te mana whakanoa o te wahine ka noho noa ia mō ake tonu atu. Ka wareware rātou ki te āhei o te wahine ki te whakatapu. Nā tēnei ka pōhēhētia anō kāore he mana tō te wahine i roto i te ao Māori. Ahakoa rā kāore e ārikarika ngā kōrero mō ngā wāhine whai mana nui i roto i te ao Māori.
He mahinga nui te hohou i te rongo ki te hoariri, ā, mā te wahine anō tēnei mahi i ētahi wā. Ko te rongo ka whakatauhia e te wahine ka kīia he rongo ā-whare. I tētahi reta ki te niupepa Māori o Te Puke ki Hikurangi i te tau 1905, ka kī a Te Waaka Tamaira, ‘i ngā wā o mua ... ki te haere te wahine ki te hohou i te Pakanga kia mutu, kore rawa e taea te takahi e tētahi taha, e tētahi taha, tōna whakatauākī he rongo taketake e kore e taea te whakahē, ki te takahia kua hē’.1
E pā ana tēnei kōrero e whai nei, ‘Anō ko te whare whawhao a Te Ao Kapurangi’ ki te puhi o Ngāti Rangiwewehi nāna i whakaora tōna iwi i tōna kake i te whatitoka o te whare. I tutuki tēnei tono i waenganui i a ia me Hongi Hika o Ngāpuhi, arā, ko rātou ka tomo mā ōna kūhā ka tukuna oratia.
I tua atu i ō rātou tūnga hei kaitakawaenga, ka tukuna anō ngā wāhine rangatira ki te hoariri ki te whakatau i te riri. Inā koa ko Te Rangiita ki te taha rāwhiti o Taupō. Ka mutu hei rongomau ka taumautia te puhi o Ngāti Raukawa a Waitapu ki a Te Rangiita hei tatau pounamu.
Ka puta ki waho rā, Waitapu.
I haere rā ia i te maungā-rongo
O te ture a Whiro …2
He huhua ngā kōrero ā-iwi mō ngā wāhine rangatira. Ko ētahi kārangatanga o tēnei hunga he puhi, he wahine rangatira, he kahurangi, he ariki tapairu.
E ai ki a Te Rangi Hīroa ka karangatia e Ngāti Kahungunu ngā mātaamua wahine o te whānau he māreikura. He tapu ēnei wāhine, ā, i a rātou e noho puhi ana ka āta tiakina e ō rātou hapū hei taumau ki iwi kē ā tōna wā. He wā ka tukuna he tonotono hei kaimahi māna.
Ko tētahi ariki tapairu ko Hinematioro o te Tai Rāwhiti. Ko ia te kaiārahi o tana iwi o Te Aitanga-ā-Hauiti, heoi totoro tonu atu tōna mana i Whangarā ki Ūawa. Kei tētahi rārangi waiata e kī ana: ‘kei tawhiti anō aku rongo, anū nei ko Hinematioro, he kahurangi, he ātaahua’. E ai ki te kōrero he pērā rawa tōna tapu kāore ōna waewae i tau ki te whenua, engari he mea amorangi haere ia.
Ko tētahi atu wahine ariki ko Rangi Topeora o Ngāti Toa. He kaiwaitohu ia i te Tiriti o Waitangi i karangatia ai ia ko te Kuini o te Tonga. He kaitito rongonui, he kaitakawaenga rongonui hoki ia i whakahē ki te mau kākahu Pākehā.
Ko tētahi ariki tapairu o te rautau 1900 ko Te Arikinui Te Ātairangikaahu. I tū ia hei kuini tuatahi mō te Kīngitanga i te matenga o tōna matua a Korokī i te tau 1966. He wahine arohaina e te iwi Māori nā tōna ngākau hūmārie, me tōna whakapau kaha ki ngā whakahaerenga maha puta noa i tōna ao Māori.
I ngā wā o mua me rangatira tonu te whakapapa o te wahine e tāia ia ki te moko kauae. He mea tohua hoki e tōna hapū e whakanōhia ai tērā he wahine mau moko ki runga i te marae.
Ko Rere-ō-maki he wahine whai mana nō Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi i haina i te Tiriti o Waitangi. I tāia tōna mokotuhi ki te tiriti e Henry Williams. He moko kauae anō tō te wahine a Timi Kara a Materoa Carroll. Waihoki ko te poropiti o Ngāti Apa ko Mere Rikiriki hoki tērā te wahine mau moko nāna i matakite te aranga ake o Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana.
Heoi ehara ko ngā wāhine rangatira katoa i tāia ki te moko ko ētahi kāore hoki i tāia he tapu rawa hoki. Ko tētahi tauira o tēnei ko te wahine rangatira o Te Whānau-ā-Apanui me Ngāti Porou a Mihi Kōtukutuku. I te wā i a ia e tamariki ana ka tae ake ngā tohunga tā moko o Te Arawa ki roto o Te Tai Rāwhiti ki te tā i ngā kōhine ki te moko kauae. Heoi ka whakahē te tohunga ki te tā i a Mihi Kōtukutuku. Nā te mana me te tapu o tōna whakapapa kāore i rata ki a ia te maringi i ōna toto.
Mai i te paunga o te rautau 1900 kua ora mai anō te tā o te wahine ki te moko kauae hei tohu wahine whai mana.
Arā atu ngā wāhine toa ki te tito mōteatea. I roto i ōna kohikohinga waiata o Ngā mōteatea ka kī ake a Āpirana Ngata ko te nuinga o ngā kaitito he wahine. Ko tāna meatanga tērā ki ngā tauira reo Māori kia ruku rātou ki ngā waiata nei kātahi ka kitea te wairua ake o te mana wahine.
Kei ngā waiata hoki ngā kōrero ā-iwi, ngā kōrero tuku iho, ngā tohu whenua, ngā kōrero tōrangapū ā-iwi. He tohu tēnei ki te tohunga o te wahine Māori ki te whakaheke kōrero. Ko tētahi kaitito rongonui o te rautau 1800 ko Puhiwāhine o Ngāti Tūwharetoa me Ngāti Maniapoto. E ai ki a Pei Te Hurinui ka rongo i ōna waiata he wahine mātau ia ki ngā kōrero, ngā whakapapa me ngā tohu whenua o tōna iwi; i āta whai whakaaro ia ki ngā tāpaetanga whenua o tōna iwi, me tana whakaōhiti ki tōna iwi kia tūpato ki ngā āhua o te Kāwana me te whakawai o te reti.
Ka haere tonu ngā mahi a ngā kaitito wahine toa i te momo tangata pērā i a Tuini Ngāwai me Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi. I te tekau tau 1980 ka tuhi a Pēwhairangi i ngā waiata rongonui pērā i a ‘E ipo’ me ‘Poi e’ i waiatatia e Tui Teka me te Karapu Māori o Pātea.
I ngā tau tīmatanga o te rautau 2000 ko Whirimako Black, rātou ko Moana Maniapoto, ko Maisey Rika mā ērā i whakatairanga ake i te pūoro Māori me te mana wahine.
Ko te reo karanga tuatahi o runga marae tētahi tikanga nui o te mana wahine e rāngona nuitia ai e te marea. I roto i tōna poroporoaki ki tōna hoa rangatira ka kōrero a Tākuta Wi Repa mō te mana whakaheke o te wahine: ‘[N]o mua iho ano te mana o te reo o te wahine ... ma te wahine e powhiri te manuwhiri, ka maru’.1
Ka haere ngātahi te āhei o te wahine ki te whakatapu i te marae ātea mā tōna reo karanga me te tūranga o te tāne ki te whaikōrero. Inā rā ko te tikanga o te karanga he whakatau i te āhua o te haere mai a te manuhiri hei taketake tūāpapa hoki mō ngā whaikōrero. He wā hoki tēnei mō ngā kaikaranga matatau ki te whakapuaki i ō rātou whakaaro ki tētahi kaupapa.
Kei ētahi o ngā iwi pērā ki a Ngāti Porou me Ngāti Kahungunu, ka whakaaetia te wahine ki te whaikōrero. Heoi arā anō ētahi katoa ka whakahē hei taumaru i te toiora me te tapu o te whare tangata. Ko ētahi wāhine tū ki te whaikōrero ko Whaia McClutchie rātou ko Mihi Kōtukutuku o Ngāti Porou ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi o Ngāti Kahungunu.
He maha ngā taupatupatu ki runga marae. I te tau 1998 ka whakanōhia te Pirimia a Helen Clark e Titewhai Harawira ki Waitangi, he whakapae nā Harawira mēnā ka whakaaetia te wahine Pākehā kia tū me whakaae anō hoki te wahine Māori.
Ka rangona tonutia te wahine e whakahau ana, e ārahi ana rānei i te haere o ngā whaikōrero. I te tau 1874 ka tuhi te kaiwhakawā matua o Whāingaroa a R. S. Bush mō te taenga atu o te tuahine, te hoa rangatira me te tamāhine a te kīngi Māori a Tāwhiao ki te whakatūwhera i te whare whakairo o Tokanga-nui-a-noho ki Aotea. I te wā hoki o ngā whaikōrero ka kite a Bush e whai tohutohu ana ngā kaikōrero i te tuahine o Tāwhiao i a Tiria i mua i te whakahoki atu i ngā kōrero.
Mai rā anō ka whai wāhi te wahine ki ngā take ā-iwi. E ai ki tētahi tuhinga i roto i te niupepa i te tau 1861 ka uru hoki ngā wāhine ki te rūnanga: ‘Ta te [M]aori, me hui katoa, te iti te rahi, te tane te wahine, te koroheke te ruruhi ... e uru katoa ana ki nga Runanga [M]aori, me o ratou whakaaro me o ratou korero; e whakatika ana tenei wahine me ana korero ano ...’1
Ko ngā wāhine Māori i waitohu i te Tiriti o Waitangi ko Takurua rātou ko Te Marama, ko Ana Hamu, ko Marama, ko Ereonora, ko Rangi Topeora, ko Kahe Te Rau-o-te-Rangi, ko Pari, ko Te Kehu, ko Ngāraurēkau, ko Te Rere o Maki, ko Hoana Riutoto ko Te Wairākau.
I ngā wā o mua ka poua ngā whenua ki ngā mea wāhine, nā te mea kāore e riro te mana whenua i te pākūhā ki te ahi kā. I te wā o te Kotahitanga ka totohe te hunga wāhine me whakauru ki roto i te ture te wāhi ki ngā wāhine Māori hei kaipupuri whenua, hei kaiārahi hoki. Nā te wāhine me te tāne i haina te petihana o te Kotahitanga ki a Kuini Wikitōria i te tau 1897.
I te pakanga i Ōrākau i te tau 1864, ka whakahoki a Ahumai Te Paerata ki ngā kupu kia puta ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki, ‘Ki te mate ngā tāne, me mate anō ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki’.2
Kua matapaki te matanga ture a Ani Mikaere i ngā kōrero o ngā pānga o te koronitanga ki te wahine Māori, me te ngana o te mihinare me tauiwi kia whakakore atu i ngā tikanga ake a te Māori hei whakatau noa mai i āna anō tikanga Pākehā. E ai ki a Mikaere ka whakarerekēhia ngā tātai arorangi, kōrero tuku iho hoki a te Māori i te kōrero tuaruatanga mai kia arotahi ki ngā atua tāne. Whāia i tērā wā ka akohia e ngā kura mihinare te kōtiro Māori ki ngā mahi o te kāinga, ki te noho hoa pono hoki. Ko te nuinga o te mihinare me te tangata whai ka uaua ki te rangatiratanga o te wahine Māori me tāna āhei kia whakawhitiwhiti kōrero kē ki te tāne. Tekau mā toru anake ngā wahine rangatira i waitohu i te Tiriti o Waitangi (o ngā waitohu e 512). Ko te tamāhine a te rangatira o Ngāti Toa a Te Pēhi tonu tētahi kāore i tukuna kia waitohu i te tiriti i te whakaaro kāore i te wahine te mana. Nā tōna whakatakariri ki tēnei takahi ka whakahē hoki tana tāne kia waitohu.
Nō te tau 1993 ka puta te kokoraho a tētahi rōpū wāhine ki te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi ki ngā kaupapa tāmi a te Karauna i te wahine Māori mai anō i te tau 1840. Nō konā ka tūpuhi te wairua, te tikanga whakaaro me ngā oranga pāpori, ōhanga hoki o te wahine Māori. Hei tauira, e 50 ōrau te tokomaha o te wahine Māori ka momi paipa, ā, he iti iho tōna utu mahi i tō te tāne Māori, i te wahine Pākehā rānei.
Hāunga tēnei ka ārahi tonu ngā wāhine rangatira i ngā kaupapa a ō rātou iwi. Ko ētahi ka whawhai i te taha o ā rātou tāne i ngā pakanga whenua o Aotearoa, i roto hoki i te tukanga Kōti Whenua Māori. Arā anō ētahi pērā i a Mākereti Hinewai o Ngāti Kaputuhi i tū hei kaitaunaki matua ki ngā kōrero tuku iho, ngā whakapapa me ngā pānga whenua o ō rātou hapū.
Ka petihana hoki ngā wāhine rangatira ki te kāwanatanga mō ngā take whenua me te mana ki te kōwhiri pōti i te taha o ō rātou hoa Pākehā, ā, nō te tau 1893 ka tutuki tēnei. Ko ēnei toa mautohe ko Meri Mangakāhia o Te Rarawa, ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi o Ngāti Kahungunu, ko Takarea Te Heuheu o Ngāti Tūwharetoa me Sophia Hērangi o Tūhourangi, ā, whai wāhi katoa rātou ki ngā take o te Paremata o Te Kotahitanga ki Pāpāwai, Wairarapa. Atu i te whakatū kōmiti wahine ka totohe hoki rātou kia tū hoki te wahine ki te paremata Māori, ka mutu he kaupapa i tutuki i te tau 1897. Ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi te etita (kaituku moni hoki) o te niupepa Māori o Te Puke ki Hikurangi.
Mai i te wāhanga tuatahi o te rautau 1900 ko Te Puea Hērangi o Waikato e ārahi ana i te Kīngitanga. I arataki ia i te Kīngitanga ki te marae o Tūrangawaewae, ki roto hoki ki ngā take whenua raupatu o Waikato. Nā tōna ngākau māhaki ka puta anō te rongo mō te Kīngitanga ki te motu.
I te huakitanga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ko ngā wāhine Māori me ngā Pākehā hoki e whakahaere ana i ngā pāmu, i ngā mahi wheketere rānei. Ā, i te tau 1926 e 50 noa iho ngā wāhine Māori e mahi ana i roto i ngā tūmomo ahumahi heoi nō te tau 1945 ka piki ki te 500 te rahi. Nō konei tīmata ai te makeretanga nui o te Māori ki ngā taone noho ai.
Ko 1951 te tau ka tū te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora hei tautoko i ngā take whakatū whare, take hauora, mātauranga hoki a te Māori. Kīhai i roa ka parara te awe o te rōpū puta noa i te motu, ā, i roto i te rima tau e 300 ōna peka. Ko tōna perehitini tuatahi ko Whina Cooper tae atu ki te hekeretari tuatahi ko Mira Szaszy. Nāwai ka tū hoki a Mira hei perehitini mō te rōpū. E mōhio whānuitia ana rāua he kaihautū nui nō te Māori i roto i te rautau 1900 nā rāua i para te huarahi mō te rōpū ki te tau rua mano. E haere tonu ana ngā mahi a te rīki ki ngā take papori o te Māori me te whakamōhio ki ngā whānau i ngā take hauora, take whakahaere hoki.
I ngā tekau tau o te 1970 me te 1980 ko te wahine Māori anō tērā e turuki ana i ngā rōpū mautohe ki ngā take whenua, take mana ōrite, tino rangatiratanga hoki. Ko Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, ko Ripeka Evans, ko Donna Awatere mā ērā i whai i ngā kaupapa mana wahine me te wetewete i te whakapae mō te rangatiratanga ake o te tāne ki roto i te ao Māori. Ko ētahi anō ka whakaara ake i te kaupapa whaikōrero i runga marae.
Ko rātou anō ērā i te mura o te ahi i ngā whakatumatuma a ngā kaimautohe ki ngā pirihimana i te haerenga mai o te kapa Springbok o Awherika ki te Tonga. I hopukina e te kaihanga kiriata Māori e Merata Mita ēnei rīriri i tāna whakaaturanga i a Patu.
Mai i te tekau tau 1970 ko Whina Cooper rāua ko Eva Rickard e takatū ana ki ngā tautohe mana whenua. I te tau 1975, i tōna tau 79, ka ārahina e Whina tōna rangatū mautohe mai i Te Hāpua ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ko Eva Rickard rātou ko tana rōpū mautohe tērā i noho te papa hahaupaoro o Whāingaroa. I tangohia tēnei whenua i te Māori mō te hanga tauranga rererangi i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua.
Ko 1949 te tau ka riro i a Iriaka Rātana te tūru Māori o te Tai Hauāuru, ā, ka noho koia te wahine Māori tuatahi kia uru ki rō paremata. E 20 tau noho rawa ia ki tēnei tūru. I te tai tonga ka toa a Whetū Tirikatene-Sullivan i te tūru Māori, ā, i te tau 1972 koia te wahine Māori tuatahi kia tū hei minita matua, arā i tōna whakamanatanga ki te tūranga minita tāpoi.
I te tau 1993 ka riro i a Sandra Lee te tūru o te Pokapū o Tāmaki. Hei tuatahitanga tēnei mō te wahine Māori kia riro tētahi tūru whānui o te Paremata o Aotearoa.
Ā, i te tau 2011 tokorua ngā rōpū tōrangapū he kaiārahi wahine Māori ōna – ko Tariana Turia o te Rōpū Māori rāua ko Metiria Turei o te Rōpū Kākāriki.
I te tau 1958 ka whakatau ake te tohunga kaiwhakaako a Koro Dewes, ‘Ko te reo te kaupapa o te Māoritanga ... Kei ngā kōkā o ngā tamariki te whakautu mō tēnei’.1 Ko ngā wāhine Māori hoki ngā pou o te whakamāuitanga o te reo Māori. I te tau 1972 ka takoto i a Hana Jackson tana petihana ki te Paremata kia whakaakohia te reo me ngā tikanga Māori ki roto i te kura. Ko Katerina Mataira rāua ko Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi ērā i whakatipu i ngā kura reo o Te Ataarangi. E kīia ana hoki a Mataira ko te ruruhi o te kura kaupapa Māori. Inā anō te maha o ana pukapuka Māori mō te hunga tamariki.
Ko Kahurangi Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi te taituarā o te kōhanga mai anō i ōna tīmatanga i ngā tau tōmua o te 1980. I tautokohia te kaupapa o te Kōhanga Reo e ngā māmā me ngā kuia i runga i te mātāpono, ‘Te tīmatanga o te reo kei ngā waiū o te whaea’.2
Nō te tau 1987 whakatūhia ai e te Rōpū Wahine Māori te Kaporeihana Whakawhanake Wahine Māori, arā he pūtahi moni e whakahaerehia ana e te wahine Māori mō te whanake i te ōhanga Māori. I te tau 2005 ka kitea ki te Pūrongo o Aotearoa mō te Mātai Rakihinonga Ao Whānui ko te wahine Māori te tuatoru o te ao mō te ‘rakahinonga āheitanga’.
Although criticised by some as preparing girls for domesticity, Māori girls’ boarding schools such as St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College, Hukarere, Turakina and Queen Victoria have played a major role in educating young Māori women and preparing them for leadership. St Joseph’s and Hukarere were still open in 2016.
Bessie Te Wenerau Grace of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, the granddaughter of paramount chief Horonuku Te Heuheu, was the first Māori woman to graduate from a university. She received a BA from Canterbury University in 1926 and later a BA and MA with first-class honours in modern languages from London University.
Ngāpare Hopa of Ngāti Wairere was the first Māori woman to receive a PhD in anthropology, from Oxford University, England. Her commitment to Māori education has spanned more than 40 years, and in the early 21st century she was a leading Māori academic.
In 2016 Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) was the only female pro-vice chancellor Māori at any university. Based at the University of Waikato, Professor Smith was internationally recognised for her work in education. Her book Decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples (1999) challenged Western ways of researching. It argued for the decolonisation of methodologies and a new type of indigenous research.
Māori women have also achieved much in sport. They include Margaret Matangi of Te Āti Awa, who was the captain of the first national New Zealand netball team in 1938. Ruia Morrison was a famous Māori tennis player who competed at Wimbledon from 1957 to 1960, reaching the last 16. Dr Farah Palmer of Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Waiora captained the Black Ferns rugby teams which won the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cup tournaments.
Awatere, Donna. Māori sovereignty. Tāmaki-makau-rau: Broadsheet, 1984.