'Super star' immortalised in book

JUNE Grant is well aware of the major role one of her distant cousins played in taking Maori culture to the world.
Now she and the rest of the world have an amazing account of Guide Maggie Papakura's life with the launch of Auckland-based historian Paul Diamond's book Makereti - Taking Maori to the World.
Ms Grant said the book was an amazing historical account of her grandmother Riihi Waaka's cousin Margaret "Makereti" Pattison Thorn, better known as Guide Maggie.
"It's just beautiful. It's an awesome pictorial essay full of information about her life. A lot of information has come out of the woodwork in the book. [Paul] was the right person to write about her," Ms Grant said.
Guide Maggie's story wasn't only a piece of New Zealand's history, it was an important part of the family's history, Ms Grant said.
"This is part of our history. She was passionate about Maori culture and knew it so well.
"Great people do great things and she was an amazing guide. She never spoke English until she was 8 years old and yet she took our culture to the rest of the world," she said.
About 130 of Guide Maggie's descendants were at the launch of the book at Whakarewarewa.
Maureen Waaka, a relation of Guide Maggie,s aid the book was an account of an incredible woman's life which would ensure her story was kept alive for future generations.
"It's just great. What she did as a guide is a traditional part of our Maori history that is still going on today.
"It's something that has been around for hundreds of years and now there is a record of her life for future generations to enjoy," she said.
Mr Diamond said he was inspired to find out more about the famous guide's life when he first saw Makereti's photograph at the Rotorua Museum and started researching her life for a radio programme.
"When you look at her life there was a lot of information from when she was famous but not a lot about her life before. She was well known. She was a super star of her time," he said.
It's 80 years since the famous Whakarewarewa guide, born in 1873 to a Maori mother and Pakeha father, died.
She was raised by her extended Maori family and led Maori concert parties to Australia and England.
She died in 1930 just before her thesis about traditional Maori life was due to be published at Oxford.