Te Rārawa leader and woman of mana Dame Whina Cooper spent her whole life fighting for Māori land rights. As a 79-year old she led Māori land protest marchers as they walked from Te Hāpua (in the far north) to Parliament, arriving on 13 October 1975.
Whina Cooper
Personal details
Full Name:
Whina Cooper
Lifetime:
9 Dec 1895 – 26 Mar 1994
Biography
Events In History
30 March 2004
Historian Michael King (aged 58) and his wife Maria Jungowska died in a car accident in south Waikato. King’s Penguin history of New Zealand became the most popular book of the year, and was the Readers’ Choice at the 2004 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.
13 October 1975
About 5000 marchers arrived at Parliament and presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling. The primary aim of the hīkoi (march) was to protest against the continuing loss of Māori land.
Articles
The Treaty in practice
Amalgamating Māori into colonial settler society was a key part of British policy in New Zealand after 1840. Economic and social change, along with land-purchase programmes, were central to this process. Read the full article
Page 6 - The Treaty debated
Modern New Zealand has debated the Treaty of Waitangi as never before. Understanding, reconciliation, protest and confrontation have been part of this
Main image: Dame Whina Cooper, 1987
Dame Whina Cooper (seated on right) and others in the public gallery of the Court of Appeal, 5 May 1987
