What is Dame Whina Cooper known for?

What is Dame Whina Cooper known for?

Whina Cooper was renowned for her activism in fighting for Māori land rights. She was born in northern Hokianga on 9 December 1895. By the 1930s, she was a significant leader in northern Hokianga, and set up Māori land development schemes in the region with Apirana Ngata (an MP from 1905-1943).

What did Dame Whina Cooper do in NZ?

Te Rārawa leader and woman of mana Dame Whina Cooper spent her whole life fighting for Māori land rights. As a 79-year old she led Māori land protest marchers as they walked from Te Hāpua (in the far north) to Parliament, arriving on 13 October 1975.

How did Whina Cooper become a dame?

As she continued to preside over Waitangi Day commemorations and conferences of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, the press identified her as Mother of the Nation (a title later given to all foundation members of the league). She was made a DBE in 1981 and a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1991.

What did Whina Cooper believe?

Cooper believed in a world where Māori and Pākeha lived in harmony, as equals, and regularly repeated this message: “Let us remember that the Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa.” When Cooper died in 1994, aged 98, she was mourned by Māori and Pākeha alike.

Why did Dame Whina Cooper lead the land march?

This Māori land march or hīkoi (march) led by Ngāpuhi leader Dame Whina Cooper was to protest against the loss of Māori land. On arriving in Wellington on 13 October, they presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to the Prime Minister Bill Rowling.

How many children did Dame Whina Cooper have?

She was twice married – both times to Maoris, despite their European names – and twice widowed, and had six children. A staunch Roman Catholic, she caused a scandal when she moved in with her second husband, who was married at the time, after her first died.

Why is Whina Cooper a leader?

Whina Cooper exemplifies diplomacy because she was an active leader in Maori politics and also a community leader for established groups in New Zealand. In the 1930’s Cooper was considered a community leader in the Northern Hokianga region because of her involvement in community activities and her community church.

What caused the hīkoi Land March?

In the early 1970s, growing Māori anger over land alienation led to activism. In the 1975 hīkoi (‘stepping out’), protesters marched from Northland to Wellington to ask the government to halt further losses of Māori land. Here they walk past Porirua towards their final destination, Parliament.

What was the purpose of the Land March?

The petition called for an end to the monocultural land laws excluding Māori cultural values and asked for the ability to establish legitimate communal ownership of land within iwi (tribal groups). The Land March contributed to the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate Treaty breaches.

Who is buried at Bastion Point?

The obelisk in Savage Memorial Park on Bastion Point commemorates the burial place of Michael Joseph Savage, first Labour prime minister, who died in 1940.

Who is Tangata whenua?

Tangata whenua – literally, people of the land – are those who have authority in a particular place. This is based on their deep relationship with that place, through their births and their ancestors’ births. This idea, in turn, underpins the notion of mana whenua – spiritual authority in a given area.

Who was Whina Cooper and what did she do?

Dame Whina Cooper ONZ DBE (9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a respected kuia ( Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women.

Where did Whina Cooper live in New Zealand?

Whina Cooper, of Te Rārawa, was born in northern Hokianga in 1895. She took part in local affairs and by the 1930s had become a leader of the northern Hokianga people. In 1932 she played an active role, with Apirana Ngata, in setting up Māori land development schemes in the region.

How old was Whina Cooper when he challenged the lease?

While Heremia sought to challenge the lease through Parliament and the court system, Whina, then aged 18, led a party of younger adults who filled in drains as fast as the Hollands dug them.

Why did Whina Cooper do the Hikoi March?

This changed in 1975 when a coalition of Māori groups asked her to lead them in a protest against the loss of Māori land. She agreed, proposing a hikoi (a symbolic march) from the northern tip of the North Island to Parliament in Wellington at the other end of the island.