The boy in the portrait, Deborah Williams believes, could be from Rotorua. Photo / Supplied
Whenever Deborah Williams walks into her home office she is greeted by a familiar smile.
"When I come in through the door, he's straight ahead of me," Williams, 75, told the Rotorua Daily Post.
"He's there with all his youthful exuberance, a gorgeous smile and lovely, dark, glossy hair. He's a real soul."
For the past 10 years, Williams has been on a quest to discover the identity of the boy in the pastel portrait on her wall - and her investigations have led her to believe he could be from Rotorua.
"I've been associated with Parihaka for more than 10 years although I live in Christchurch," the retired French and German language teacher said.
"When I go to Parihaka they have pictures of the people on the walls of their whare who have passed on and I just thought the portrait belongs with the family if I can find them."
The artwork came into Williams' family decades ago, when her parents won a raffle at the Canterbury Society of Art.
Since then, the portrait has been a part of Williams' home and now has pride of place in a room where she spends most of her day.
When asked why she continued to search after 10 years, Williams replied with her favourite whakataukī: "He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people."
Williams said she was searching for the boy's people.