Descended from Tamatekapua of Te Arawa canoe and from Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe, she was a woman of mana, who belonged to Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika hapū. (The Māori word mana has many meanings, including authority, charisma, prestige, integrity, spiritual power and strength.) T
Ngāti Kahungunu woman of mana, landowner
Airini Ngā Roimata Grennell was born on 11 February 1910 at Waitangi in the Chatham Islands, the eldest of five children. Her father, William Henry Grennell, was a farmer and fisherman at Matarakau on the northern side of the main island. He was of Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Irish and American extraction. Airini’s mother was Mary Hazel Teripa Tīkao, the daughter of Hōne Taare Tīkao and his wife, Martha Hana Tōku Horomona (Hannah Solomon Score), who were of Ngāi Tahu (known locally as Kāi Tahu).
Around 1920 the Grennells moved to the South Island and stayed at Akaroa with Mary’s family until their homestead was completed at Koukourarata (Port Levy). Airini was sent to Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Christchurch, where she became a keen sportswoman, representing Canterbury in golf and basketball, and developed an appreciation for music. Around the age of 18 she travelled to England to study music professionally, gaining an LTCL and LRSM in teaching the piano and singing.
On 11 February 1931 at Christchurch, Airini Grennell married Hōne Weretā, a farmer of Ngāti Raukawa; later that year a daughter was born to them. During the 1930s Airini and Hōne separated, and Airini went back to studying music full time. Her parents shared in the upbringing of her daughter.
The Grennells were part of the Koukourarata concert party run by their aunt Rāhera Tainui. They performed regularly around Banks Peninsula, to raise money for the community during the depression, and later for servicemen and their families during the Second World War. In 1935 Airini and her sister Hinemoa also joined the Waiata Māori Choir, organised by the Reverend A. J. Seamer. Members of influential families throughout Māoridom belonged, including Te Uira Mānihera and Īnia Te Wīata. The choir travelled extensively, and in December began a tour of Australia. In 1937 they toured England, and following his coronation were presented to King George VI. After visiting India in 1938 the choir disbanded.
Airini’s attention then turned to radio, and in October 1938 she joined 4ZB in Dunedin as a programme assistant; her trained voice and excellent diction in both Māori and English fitted her well for this position. In 1940 her ‘Songs of the Islands’ session was very popular. During the Second World War Airini travelled with radio announcers to sing and play the piano for community concerts and to raise money. A talented soprano, she became known affectionately as the ‘Chatham Islands Nightingale’.
By the end of the war Airini had moved to Auckland, where she worked at 1ZB as a programme assistant. By 1949 she had returned to Christchurch and worked with both 3YA and 3ZB as an announcer. She helped to organise a series of radio programmes for women on 3YA and to initiate a network of women’s programmes on national radio. Airini was the commentator for five royal tours.
In March 1958 her husband, Hōne, died and on 25 November that year, at Christchurch, Airini married Rudolf Gopas, a well-known painter and photographer from Lithuania who lectured at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts. Airini continued her career in broadcasting until 1966 when, after 28 years in radio, she retired. She made a brief appearance on television, one of the first Māori women to do so.
Airini enjoyed her retirement among her people, becoming a respected leader of Horomaka Kāi Tahu and Taranaki–Wharekauri Ngāti Mutunga, playing the piano at family gatherings and maintaining standards of speech in both Māori and English. She played golf as long as she was able, and took many family photographs. Her husband, Rudolf, and her daughter predeceased her, and after her death at Christchurch on 8 December 1988 her ashes were interred with theirs in the family burial ground at Rāpaki. Intellectually curious, witty and yet humble, Airini had helped to bring about a renaissance in Māori culture.
Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Tahu; photographer, actor, director
Rangitaamo Tiahuia Taiuru was born at Waimoho, near Rangiriri in the Waikato district, on 24 July 1901. Her mother, Paretauhanga Rīwhero, was of Ngāti Hine of Waikato; her father, Moroati Taiuru of Rata in the Rangitīkei district, was connected to both Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Kahungunu through his hapū Ngāti Hauiti, Ngāti Haukaha, Ngāti Hikairo and Ngāti Whiti-Tama (the inter-married hapū Ngāti Tamakōpiri and Ngāti Whitikaupeka). Her parents had lost all their earlier infants. When Paretauhanga conceived again, they travelled to Waikato to consult Mahuta, the Māori King. He told them that Paretauhanga was the victim of ill will because she had been a puhi (a young woman of rank whose marriage was important to her people), and Moroati had taken her away from her home. He told them to stay in Waikato, and when the child was born, if it was a girl it was to be called Taamorangi Tiahuia Taiuru Te Rango. After her birth, her first name was altered to Rangitaamo. She and her parents stayed in Waikato long enough for Rangitaamo to attend school at Rangiriri, but after a smallpox epidemic the family returned to Rata. Seven other children were born to the family.
Rangitaamo grew up at Rata on her father’s farm. When not at school she worked with him, milking cows and doing farm work in preference to domestic chores with her mother. She also travelled with her paternal grandmother, Te Maari Maatuahu, visiting relatives and attending Native Land Court sittings. She met Tenga-i-te-rangi Takarangi while attending shows in Taihape when she was about 17. He was of the well-known Takarangi Metekīngi family of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi of Wanganui, and was also of Ngāti Whiti-Tama of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Rangitaamo’s father’s people were their close kin and originally came from the same area. Rangitaamo’s and Tenga’s families had arranged a marriage between them; they were to have one son and one daughter, who died aged two. At that time (1932) Rangitaamo adopted another daughter, and she and Tenga formalised their marriage. Their son was killed during the Second World War.
Tenga Takarangi had attended Wanganui Collegiate School, and worked as a farm cadet and farm labourer. He was a leading figure at Pūtiki marae, and Rangitaamo also worked there. At first this was behind the scenes in the kitchen and dining room, but later she learnt marae customs and was invited to welcome visitors formally. One of her first tasks was to welcome soldiers returning from the First World War. She was a foundation member of the Pūtiki Māori Club, and later was to act as tutor in waiata, karanga and whaikōrero (speech-making). She took part in tukutuku projects, making woven panels as wall decorations in meeting houses at Kai Iwi marae, Koriniti marae, the Māori church at Pūtiki, St John’s Cathedral, Napier, and Hato Pāora College, Feilding.
In 1942 Tenga joined the Native Department. Rangitaamo’s own qualities of leadership, her increasingly prominent position at Pūtiki and the range of her husband’s interests and areas of influence made her the logical choice for the Wanganui district when welfare officers were being appointed to the new Māori Welfare Division of the Native Department. She commenced her new responsibilities in May 1947. Her area extended from Pūtiki upriver to Taumarunui, and on almost to Te Kūiti, and included Taupō, part of Taranaki and the Turakina district south of Wanganui. Her main concerns were arranging housing and health care for impoverished Māori, and ensuring the best possible education for their children. Much of her time went to setting up and fostering branches of the Women’s Health League: she had 47 branches in her area, of which five were affiliated to the Rotorua Central Committee. She tried to reduce the number to form larger branches which would function more efficiently, but was thwarted by each small community wanting to work within its own branch.
In 1948 Rangitaamo was sent to the Women’s Health League conference to promote the idea among Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa of a Māori welfare league, able to deal directly with the different government departments responsible for housing, health, education and employment. Rangitaamo presented these ideas to her Ngāti Tūwharetoa kin in Māori, hoping to break their allegiance to the Rotorua Committee. In 1951 she travelled her district, discreetly persuading the Women’s Health League branches to convert to branches of the newly formed Māori Women’s Welfare League. Just before the MWWL’s first dominion conference, Rangitaamo hosted a crucial meeting at Pūtiki in 1951 which helped to turn the tide towards it. After the league was established, Rangitaamo was ultimately responsible for its administration in her zone. Throughout the early 1950s she forwarded to the Department of Māori Affairs applications to form new branches. This meant attending and assisting at most of their meetings. She also attended all dominion conferences; with Ruth Wright and Ema Ōtene her special responsibility was to take care of official visitors.
Rangitaamo continued in her work as a welfare officer, attending meetings of the MWWL and Pūtiki’s many other community organisations for 14 years, dealing with the sick, promoting healthy child-rearing practices among mothers, caring for the homeless and disadvantaged, finding work for the unemployed, and promoting spiritual welfare through her teaching of all aspects of Māori culture. She retired officially in 1962; Tenga-i-te-rangi died the same year. Rangitaamo coped with the massive tangihanga, and later with a ceremony at Pūtiki to mark the unveiling of his memorial stone.
Neither her husband’s death nor her own retirement lessened Rangitaamo’s activity. In August 1964 she was one of a group of four Māori women who flew to Tonga to attend the 10th annual conference of the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women’s Association, which was built around the theme of the role of women in preserving cultural heritage. With Te Arahori Pōtaka, also of Wanganui, Rangitaamo helped to lead the New Zealand delegation in waiata, poi dances and haka during the associated concert. For Rangitaamo, the highlight of the conference was meeting Queen Salote; they became firm friends.
Rangitaamo continued her tutoring of Māori language, arts and crafts and her role as elder at Pūtiki. In 1982 she was asked to instruct Prince Edward, then a house tutor at Wanganui Collegiate School, in Māori custom. She received the Wanganui Community Award in 1984. That year Sir Kīngi Īhaka of the Council for Māori and South Pacific Arts presented her with an award of $700 for her work in promoting Māori arts and culture, and for her compositions of waiata. She was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 1986 for community service. Rangitaamo Takarangi died at Wanganui Hospital, aged 90, on 5 June 1992. She was survived by a daughter and numerous descendants. After a tangihanga on Pūtiki marae, she was buried at Pūtiki cemetery.
Ngāti Apa woman of mana
Ngāti Tūwharetoa woman of mana
Te Rarawa woman of mana, teacher, storekeeper, community leader
Among the most famous women in early American history, Pocahontas is credited with having helped the struggling English settlers in Virginia survive in the early 1600s. The explorer John Smith—who claimed Pocahontas saved his life—hailed her as “the instrument to pursurve this colonie from death, famine, and utter confusion.”
Sacagawea was an interpreter and guide for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition westward from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. Though spelled numerous ways in the journals of expedition members, Sacagawea is generally believed to be a Hidatsa name (Sacaga means “bird” and wea means “woman”). In that case, the third syllable starts with a hard g, as there is no soft g in the Hidatsa language. However, many Shoshone Indians maintain that it is a Shoshone name meaning “boat launcher” and spell and pronounce it “Sacajawea.”