The Women's Health League pictured at Ohinemutu, 1937. Photo/Supplied
The Women's Health League pictured at Ohinemutu, 1937. Photo/Supplied
Those who haven't yet checked out the exhibition chronicling Te Arawa Women's Health League have just under a month to do so.
Eighty years after the launch of this grassroots organisation, an exhibition chronicling it opened at Rotorua Lakes Council Galleria on December 1 last year.
It is now back open after a break over the Christmas and New Year period.
The Te Arawa Women's Health League was founded by district nurse Robina Cameron with the support of Te Arawa elders in the Rotorua District in 1937.
The league's focus was the health of Maori women and children working through marae-based women's committees.
Stories told in Autauhinera: Sisterhood – Legacies of the Te Arawa Women's Health League reflect the lives of women and children in the 1930s and early 1940s and reveals the reality of daily life for women at this time, along with the great sense of camaraderie that still holds true today.
The exhibition, and related book, is the culmination of two years research led by Dr Laurie Morrison and researcher Raina Meha.
Laurie acknowledges the Maori trusts and funding bodies that have made this project possible, including the Women's Health League, Ngati Whakaue Endowment Trust, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Kearoa and Te Roro o Te Rangi Trusts.
Rotorua Lakes Council and Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa helped in research and provision of historical photographs for the book and exhibition.
Rotorua Lakes Council art and culture co-ordinator Kathy Nicholls says the exhibition reveals the reality of daily life for families in Rotorua in the 1930s and early 1940s and highlights the important changes made possible by the Te Arawa Women's Health League.
"It is a really interesting exhibition focusing on local history and includes some fantastic stories collected from Rotorua communities."
Autauhinera: Sisterhood – Legacies of the Te Arawa Women's Health League is on display at the Rotorua Lakes Council Galleria Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, until February 11.
