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Kai te whakahonorengia nga tuhinga matauranga a Makereti Papakura e te whare wananga o Oxford a te wiki hou.
Na reira e tika ana ki a tae ona uri kiritata penei i tona mokopuna a June Grant me etehi atu ki te whenua te Kingi hou ara ki te whenua o Ingarangi.
"Hai te kotahi tekau ma wha o Oketopa ka whakakotahi atu matau me Ngati Ranana ki Oddington me te whare karakia o Hato Anaru ki te wahi e tanumia ana to tatou ruruhi rangatira.
"A te ahiahi ka hoki matau ki te Muheama i Oxford ko reira tu ai ahau, kauwhau ai mo to tatou tangata a kui Makereti, na, ka mutu ana taku korero ka tukuna e ahau te rakau korero ki a Matanga Linda Smith me tana kaupapa rangatira ake nei".
Ko te wa hoki tenei ki te korero i te mana nui whakaharahara o Makereti Papakura. Kai te whakamanuwhiringia matau e te wahanga matauranga tikanga tangata me te Muheama o Pitts ko te kareti o Hato Ana ko te tarati o Rhodeas me te whare wananga o Oxford, na hai whakakapi i tenei ra nui, ka kai okawa katoa tatau ki te Muheama Kawe matauranga Taiao. He kaupapa tenei kua whakaritea e June Grant, he uri no Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao me Tuwharetoa, whaihoki te tumuwhakarae o te wananga o Atlantic a Evie O'Brien.
Ko June te wahine tiaki i nga tuhinga a tona kuia me te mea hoki kua pau i a ia e whia ke o nga tau te whakapau kaha ki te whakatairanga i te kauae oreore o Makereti. Kia kaua ia e rite ki te iwi o Maruiwi.
Tera tetehi ruma rangatira kai te whare wananga o Oxford, he wahi whakarangatira i a Makereti, kai te kawea e matau nga uri o Ngati Wahiao etehi taonga hai kurutongarerewa ma te whare wananga, matua kia noho ake
ake ki te poho o Makereti. Wheoi ano ra he timatatanga noa tenei, he poturi noa te whakatahuri i nga wira o te whare wananga ki a oti i a ratau tetehi tono – e tumanako nei te ngakau kia tahuri mai ratou ki ta matau tono ki te whakapotaengia to tatau kuia.
Me te mea hoki, he mana nui tana tuhinga roa, a, kua tutuki hoki i a ia nga wahanga katoa o nga whakaritenga a te whare wananga.
He kotahi tekau ma wha o nga matanga matauranga Maori kua tipakongia ki a kotahi atu hai hoa haere ma June. Ko Hemi Rolleston ratau ko Raina Meha, ko Haukapuanui Vercoe, ko Naianga Tapiata, ko Juliet Nelson, ko Hani Berryman. Otia he Ngai Te Arawa enei pukenga. Ko te mana nui o te karahipi Rhodes kai nga pokohiwi o Evie te tumuwhakarae o te wananga o Atlantic.
E hoki ana nga maharatanga ki te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau ma waru ko Evie te Tumuwhakarae tuarua o Te Wananga o Awanuiarangi i Whakatane. Ko etehi atu tangata nui ka tae ki tenei hui ko nga mema o te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa me Te Ohu matua o Aotearoa. E tumanako ana ka hua iho etehi atu kaupapa whakamihi i a Makereti ko te whakarewanga pea o tetehi tunga Maori whakaoraora ki te Muheama o Pitts River.
Kua tohungia a Rhieve Grey (te pou whakawhiwhinga ki te tunga Maori whakaoraora i tenei tau) ki tetehi tunga mo te raumati ki Ingarangi ki te poho iho o te wananga o Atlantic ka awhinatia tenei kaupapa e te tarati o Rhodes. He Ngati Tuwharetoa, he Ngati Manunui, he Ngati Porou a Rhieve.
He wahine rangatira a Makereti engari ki te nuinga o te ao ko Maggie Papakura ke. He wahine arahi turuhi ki nga whenua me nga kainga o Te Whakarewarewa. No te rua tekau o Oketopa, no te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e whitu tekau ma toru ka
whanau ai a Makereti i Matata.
Ko Pia Ngarotu Te Rihi tona matua wahine ko William Arthur Thom, he Pakeha, tona matua tane. No te kotahi tekau ma ono o Aperira, no te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e toru tekau, e rua wiki i mua tonu i te whakamatautau o tana tuhinga roa ka whati ona whekau, ka hinga ia i Oxford.
Ka tanumia ia na runga i ona aku hiahia ki te urupa o Oddington ki te puku o Oxfordshire. Ka pau te kotahi tau, ka whakatungia tetehi kowhatu whakamaumaharatanga mona ki Te Whakarewarewa.
Hai ta June tana mokopuna, ko Makereti tetehi wahine purotu, he taonga, he kotiri haere takiwa, he pakari, he wahine aroha nui whakaohooho i te pae tawhiti. No reira e te kotuku matakara te kahu waero, te pou tokomanawa o te whare pukenga e moe.— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaoritia.
The signs are positive that Makereti Papakura's academic work will be recognised by Oxford University next week.
Her mokopuna, June Northcroft Grant, and a Hononga of Māori academics head to the United Kingdom tomorrow.
"On Friday, October 14, our Roopu and Ngati Ranana will go to Oddington and St Andrews Church where Makereti lies to pay our respects, and return to the Natural History Museum in Oxford in the afternoon, where I will speak for our Kuia Makereti to be followed by Professor Linda Smith who will give a stellar address as is her way."
It will also be the occasion when the inaugural Makereti Papakura Memorial Lecture will be presented.
The lecture will be hosted by the Anthropology Department, Pitt Rivers Museum, St Annes College and Rhodes Trust at the University of Oxford and will be followed by a black-tie dinner at the Natural History Museum.
The hononga is the culmination of work by Evie O'Brien, the executive director of the Atlantic Institute, to encourage students the world over to consider studying at Oxford, and this occasion was appropriate to invite Maori scholars.
June is the guardian of her kuia's diary and has dedicated years of her life to having Makereti recognised.
"There is a lovely room in the University of Oxford dedicated to Makereti and we are taking gifts from the Ngati Wahiao Hapu to be presented to the uni and to be displayed in the Makereti Papakura room there.
"That's a good start to getting her matriculated, though the wheels of academia take a while to turn.
"We hope they will consider our tono to get our Kuia her entitlement — it is very appropriate considering her thesis is a bona fide document in every University for student perusal."
Fourteen Māori academics from all over the motu have been sponsored to explore the possibility of studying at Oxford and they include Hemi Rolleston, Raina Meha, Haukapuanui Vercoe, Juliet Nelson, Hani Berryman, and Naianga Tapiata, all Te Arawa
Evie, in her role at the Atlantic Institute, is responsible for Rhodes Scholarships. Before her Oxford appointment in 2018 Evie was deputy CEO at Te Wananga o Awanuiarangi.
Expected at the event next week are representatives from the New Zealand Government and New Zealand High Commission staff.
It is also hoped there will be other formal acknowledgments of Makereti including a potential Maori Fellowship/Curator in Residence at the Pitt Rivers Museum.
Rhieve Grey (current Maori Rhodes Scholar) has been appointed to a UK Summer Internship with Atlantic Institute and Rhodes Trust to support this programme. He has Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Taupo, Ngati Manunui, and Ngati Porou whakapapa.
Makereti or Maggie Papakura was an internationally known tourist guide at Whakarewarewa thermal valley during the early days of New Zealand tourism.
Makareti was born at Matata on October 20, 1873. Her mother was Pia Ngarotu Te Rihi and her father William Arthur Thom, an English storekeeper.
On April 16, 1930, just two weeks before her thesis was due for examination, Makereti died suddenly at Oxford from a ruptured aortic artery. She was buried at Oddington cemetery in Oxfordshire and a year later a memorial was erected at Whakarewarewa.
'He has disregarded our voice and continued with this divisive kaupapa.'