Women's Voices Flashcards
Te Rina Maaka
- focus of Haami Bradford reading
- lived c. 1849-1944
- Recorded whakapapa in an address book
- Connected herself to the aristocracy as was common for writers of genealogy
- May have written it down because married to Pu-rakau who was the scribe of the Wairarapa area
Miriama Hakaraia Maaka
- the focus of Haami Bradford reading
- died 1890
- recorded genealogies mainly of her immediate family links to Ngati Hika-toa of Waimarama and those of her husband
- The whakapapa are likely to have been submitted to the court to confirm the rights of Hakaria and Maaka Whanga-taua as potential title-holders of the lands in question
Haami Bradford reading
- Considers women as custodians of whakapapa, an area which has traditionally been considered a male realm
- Focuses on the whakapapa books of Miriama Maaka and Te Rina Maaka
- Both male and female ancestral lines are important as well as the illustrious and insignificant
- Argues that whakapapa not just a male realm
Jenny Lee reading
-Informative rather than argumentative reading detailing the communication between Eliza Grey, Pipi Te Whiwhi and Ruta Te Rauparaha
Ruta (Ruth) Te Rauparaha
- Only one photograph but quite a few images of her
- writes to Lady Grey
Ruta Te Rauparaha letter to George Grey
-“P.S. Father, Governor, I spend much time gazing upon this letter… I carry it around with me in my packet… I will sleep with the letters held close to me for company while I sleep all alone in my house.”
Ruta Te Rauparaha’s letter to Lady Grey
- At end of second governorship
- “My very dear friend, Lady Grey, I yearn for you the two of you who have gone far from our sight. Our God will guide you, so that you travel safely out there on teh open sea. Your husband is lamented with tears by me and my husband here in Otaki. [Waiata Aroha entitled “Song of Longing for Lady Grey” written in here] From your loving friend in Jesus Christ Mrs Te Rauparaha
Pipi (Pheobe) Te Whiwhi
- Only one image of her, with scarf on her head
- Wrote to Eliza Grey upon her departure in 1853 saying: “I have great affection for you. Go, you and the governor, to England. God will see you arrive safely in England. Waikanae will not be given away to teh Governor by Mokau. It is right that it be left with Ngati Awa as their rightful home. This is my Lament for you [Waiata Tangi used here]. Where is the friend to whom I clung in those first early days? That is the end. Pipi Te Whiwhi.
Eliza Grey
- very distant relationship with husband George Grey
- Is a Ghost in teh archives, only have one picture that might be her but not totally sure
- received letters from Pipi Te Whiwhi and Ruta Te Rauparaha
- We do not know if she could understand Maori, let alone write in it so her letters may have been written by someone else on her behalf, possibly even Grey as have a letter in his hand, written as though it was her writing
- This may also mean that eh letters she received were censored
Timata
- wrote a letter of protest regarding the Ngarua Wahia land being confiscated, which was read at the auction in Auckland whereby these lands were sold to settlers
- “I hereby protest against the sale of certain lands known as Ngaruawahia, bounded on the one side of the Waipa River, and on the other by the Horatiu [sic] River. I claim the land for myself, my son, my daughters, and other relatives. It is well known to thousands that I have been a peaceable subject of the Queen. I, therefore, claim protection as a British subject, my rights being granted to me by the Treaty of Waitangi. I protest against any of my lands being sold or disposed of in any way without my consent. And if my protest is not attended to, and my rights respected, I shall appeal to the Queen, who is my great chief (signed) Timata 9th September 1864
The New Zealand Settlements Act 1863
- Enabled the government to confiscate land from anyone deemed to be in rebellion to the Queen
- Allowed for confiscation of large area of the North Island, Particularly the land of Ngati Maniapoto
- Was not really based on rebellion or punishment but rather a case of we want that land
First example of writing by the Pakakohe women
September 12 1870
To the government- to Mr. McLean and his Council. Is it true that you have stated that we are to be taken to Otago? Give heed you and your council we don’t want to go. We would rather stay where we are. It would be prefereable to send our husbands who are now in Otago back here again. Mr. McLean and COuncil it is not right to propose to carry us off to that place. That purpose of yours is not correct Mr. McLean.
That is all.
From all the women
Second Letter from the Pakakohe Women
Have you received it or not? If you have why don’t you reply to it because it was the uncertainity that caused us to write to you respecting the statement by you which we heard viz. That we were to be taken to Otago to our husbands. So we said that we did not want to go to Otago but that our husbands should be bought back to us because sufficient punishment has been inflict by you upon us in sending them to Otago to die. We therefore ask you to send back to us those who are yet alive
The story of the Pakakohe
- iwi caught up on a conflict with teh crown (both protest and armed conflict from 1865)
- The government wanted the rich fertile land they resided on
- By 1869 the fighting had ceased and the group surrendered on the basis that they would not be harmed
- However, lots of the men were sentenced to death but this was commuted to being transported to Dunedin and sentenced to hard labor building the causeway
- 18 men died, others not released until 1872
Key event 8th Septemeber 1870 regarding the Pakakohe women
The government sent a message to Issac Newton Watt stating that they intended to ship the Pakakehe women to Dunedin along with some old men. They said that once the men sentenced to hard labor had fulfilled their sentences they would be able to join them.
Ngai Tahu was to give them land to settle on but this is debated as to whether this was permanently or not
