Dame Whina Cooper (born Hōhepine Te Wake; 9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a New Zealand (Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of Māori, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for leading the 1975 Māori land march from Te Hāpua to Wellington, a distance of , at the age of 79.

Her wide influence and nationally recognised activity led her to be acknowledged with awards in both the British and New Zealand Royal Honours Systems, and by her own people, who bestowed the title ('Mother of the Nation') upon her. She is the subject of the 2022 film Whina.

Early life

Whina Cooper was born Hōhepine Te Wake, daughter of community leader and Catholic catechist Heremia Te Wake and Kare Pauro Kawatihi, of the Te Rarawa iwi, at Te Karaka, Hokianga.

From an early age, she showed an interest in her father's role, and in history and genealogy. Her education began at Whakarapa Native School. In 1907, she attended St Joseph's Māori Girls' College. After high school, she returned to Whakarapa (later Panguru) where her father wanted her to enter into an arranged marriage with Tureiti Te Heuheu Tukino V, leader of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Cooper refused, and instead worked at a local co-operative store. She worked as a teacher for a brief time, at Pawarenga Native School. However, as one of only three teachers, she became frustrated, and found her time stretched between teaching and helping her own community. She left teaching in 1914 and was a housekeeper at the Catholic presbytery of Rawene for two years. She kept her Catholic faith her whole life. "which was able to improve things notably for Maori women", working on health, housing, education, and welfare.

In 1957, she stepped down as president, and the annual conference rewarded her with the title Te Whaea o te Motu ("Mother of the Nation"). During the 1960s, she worked on a local level around Auckland, but kept largely out of the national spotlight.

  • In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori welfare and culture.
  • In the 1981 New Year Honours, Cooper was further promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people.
  • In 1990, Cooper received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.
  • In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, she became the twentieth appointee to the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civil honour.
  • In 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.

Death and legacy

Cooper returned to Panguru in the Hokianga in 1983 and died there, aged 98, in 1994. Cooper's passing generated tributes from numerous political figures including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Jim Bolger.

She has also served as an inspiration to other Māori women, such as Tiahuia Abraham, who has been a member of the Māori Women's Welfare League for 53 years.

Memorials

On 3 February 2020, a memorial at the Waipuna Marae was unveiled in Panguru, Hokianga, in the presence of prime minister Jacinda Ardern. The bronze statue was a sculptural representation of a photograph of Cooper, holding the hand of her granddaughter, as they were starting the 1975 land march. Ardern promised that her story would be included in the new school history curriculum.

Film

Cooper is the subject of a biographical film called Whina, which was released in selected cinemas on 23 June 2022. The film was directed by James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones. Cooper was portrayed by Miriama McDowell and Rena Owen, with the former portraying an adult, and the latter an elderly, Cooper.

Television

Whina Cooper was the focus of the documentary, Whina, Te Whaea O Te Moto – Mother of the Nation (1992) by Bryan Bruce. Bruce also featured footage of the Whina Cooper-led Maori land march of 1975 in The Bridge (2002), a television documentary about the history of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

See also

  • Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975

References

Further reading

  • King, Michael (2003). Cooper, Whina 1895–1994 (biography of Dame Whina Cooper)
  • from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
  • Te Matakite O Aotearoa – The Maori Land March – Full-length documentary about the 1975 march, featuring interviews with Whina Cooper on NZ On Screen
  • "Whina: Te Whaea o Te Motu", 1992 documentary on the life of Dame Whina Cooper