Jean Puketapu

Jean Gloria Edith Puketapu or Jean Puketapu-Waiwai QSO[1] (26 July 1931 – 31 July 2012) was a Ngāi Tūhoe Māori language activist and co-founder of the first kōhanga reo.

Puketapu was one of thirteen children of Haami and Te Ngaroahiahi Waiwai, shearers in the Ureweras near Lake Waikaremoana. She was beaten at Kokako Native School at Tuai for speaking Māori language and at home for speaking English, but obtained a scholarship to Hukarere College in Napier.[2] At the age of 18, she moved to Lower Hutt with her sister and her husband, who was the son of Rua Tapunui Kenana, the Maori prophet, faith healer and land rights activist.[2]

She and her sisters became active in the Te Aroha Hutt Valley Association, particularly in the double long poi. Her mother, Te Ngaroahiahi, was one of the Tuhoe kuia who worked on tokutoku panels for Arohanui ki te Tangata, whose construction was spearheaded by Ihaia (Paddy) Puketapu. Jean married Ihakara Puketapu, Paddy's son, in 1956 and they moved to Wainuiomata.

While Ikakara was studying at the University of Chicago, Puketapu spent time in a project teaching women to read and write in a 'Negro ghetto'.[3] When he returned from a posting to the New Zealand High Commission in London, Jean started work at Wainuiomata College teaching Maori, and helped to found the first kōhanga reo in 1981.[2]

In 1989 a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship allowed her to travel to Arizona and New Mexico, studying curriculum methods and systems used in teaching the Spanish and Pueblo Indian languages.[2][4]

In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Puketapu was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service.[5] In 1993, she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[6] In 1995 she became a Justice of the Peace,[2] and in 2004 she received her Diploma in Early Childhood Education.[7]

Two of her brothers, John[8] and Bill,[9] served in the 28th Māori Battalion during World War II.[2]

Obits

References
  1. Party, Maori (2 August 2012). "Māori Party | Poroporoaki: Jean Puketapu-Waiwai". Maoriparty.org. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  2. Tim Donoghue. "Obituary | Jean Gloria Edith Puketapu". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  3. "Te Ao Hou THE MAORI MAGAZINE [electronic resource]". Teaohou.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. Puketapu, J.; Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (N.Z.) (1990). Letter Reporting on a Visit to the Southwestern United States, as a Churchill Fellow, to Study Multi-cultural and Education Issues, in March and April, 1989. Winston Churchill Fellowship. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  5. "No. 52564". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 15 June 1991. p. 31.
  6. "The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  7. "New Zealand Maori Leader Jean Puketapu Dies 1 August 2012 | Merrilyn Hope's Blog". Merrilynhope.com. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  8. "Auckland War Memorial Museum - Waiwai-John-World-War-II,-1939-1945". Muse.aucklandmuseum.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  9. "Auckland War Memorial Museum - Waiwai-William-World-War-II,-1939-1945". Muse.aucklandmuseum.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
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