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STRONG ROOTS<o:p></o:p>I was born Margaret Pattison Thom in the Bay of Plenty in 1873. My father was an Englishman, William Thom. My mother, Pia Ngarotū Te Rihi, was Māori and had descended from chiefs.&nbsp;For the first ten years of my life, I lived in a Māori village, where I stayed with my mother’s aunt and uncle. It was from them that I learned the history and traditional ways of my tribe.&nbsp;I also learned to speak Te Reo Māori, the native language of the Māori people. When my father came to visit me, he did not speak my native language and I did not speak his native language.&nbsp;My father arranged for me to go to a school in Rotorua and study English. I learned about the Māori and English languages and cultures, and I felt comfortable moving between the two.<div>A GIFT FOR GUIDING</div>After leaving school, I decided once again to live in a Māori community and moved to Whakarewarewa, the ancestral home of our people. It was a beautiful and scenic valley, which attracted many tourists and when they arrived, I felt quite honoured to be their tour guide. Most of them were English speakers, and I told them about our culture as well as showing them the geothermal hot springs.<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F63dd86d63f3a4b90aafdaf064dc20ae6" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 371.001px; height: 278.25px;"></div><o:p></o:p>One day, I was asked by a visitor if I had a Māori surname. I glanced at the nearby geyser, called Papakura, and quickly answered “My name is Papakura, Maggie Papakura”. From then on, I was known as Guide Maggie Papakura, and many visitors sought me out for my charm and wit, as well as my knowledge and understanding of our Māori culture.&nbsp;One visitor made many visits to our village. His name was Frank Dennan, and I fell in love. In 1891, we married. I was just 19 years old, and we were blessed with a son who we named William Francis. Sadly, we divorced in 1900.&nbsp;In 1901, there was a lot of excitement in the town. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York were visiting, and since I could speak English fluently, I became their guide. Within days, my photograph was in newspapers.&nbsp;It seemed that by meeting celebrities, I became one myself. There was a photo of me dressed in a Māori costume, and postcards with the picture were sent worldwide by tourists. I was so proud.<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fc66ba9303e954a579dcf3bad8ad7e1c1" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 257.014px; height: 453.625px;"></div><o:p></o:p>A BIGGER PURPOSE<o:p></o:p>I was invited to visit Australia to talk about our traditions. When I came home, I worked to help others in understanding the Māori culture. I spoke up for my people, feeling that it was important to improve their education and living conditions.&nbsp;It seemed odd to some that a woman was the Māori spokesperson. But important Māori men supported me.&nbsp;I wrote a book called Guide To The Hot Lakes District. It covered the stories that I told as a tourist guide. My sister Bella and I performed for tourists and in 1910, our Māori entertainment group was invited to perform in Sydney, Australia. While there, we were asked to perform at the Festival of Empire - halfway around the world in London!<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fa8824e4f9ecf473ab5bc28a1b74793b5" alt="" style="color: rgb(21, 20, 20); width: 242.911px; height: 342.125px;"></div><o:p></o:p>We went - but with 40 people on tour, it was expensive.&nbsp;After about six months, some members of our group went back home, and I joined them. However, I had to make a decision. I had been seeing Richard Charles Staples-Brown while in London. We had fallen in love, so I decided to return to London, and we married. He was a wealthy landowner and we lived at Oddington Grange, Oxfordshire. What a change from my early days in the Māori village.<div><div>LEAVING A LEGACY</div><div> </div><div>But in 1914, war broke out in Europe and New Zealand troops arrived to join the fight against Germany. Many were badly injured, and to help the cause, I arranged for my home to become a hospital centre. It was hard. After the war ended, the world had changed. Richard and I divorced in 1924.</div><div> </div><div>In 1926, after a life spent practising and raising awareness for the culture of my Māori family, I decided to study for a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from the University of Oxford. I was 53 at the time. My collection of journals, notes and diaries helped me. I went back to New Zealand to talk to the elders about my work and to gain their approval.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Until then, most indigenous studies were seen through Western eyes. They did not show what it was really like.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>I was proud to shine a light on my people’s culture and customs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div></div><div> </div>GLOSSARY<o:p></o:p>Māori – the aboriginal people of New Zealand, as well as the Polynesian language of these people.Geothermal – relating to or produced by the internal heat of the earth.Anthropology – the study of human societies and cultures, and their development.Indigenous – existing naturally from a certain place.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Mākereti Papakura became a much-respected advocate for the Māori culture, and a proud ambassador for her people and their way of life.</li><li>The striking traditional feather cloak that she wore when guiding has pride of place in the Museum of New Zealand.</li><li>Although buried in England, her people erected a remarkable memorial in Mākereti Papakura’s honour at Whakarewarewa, New Zealand. This remains New Zealand’s biggest tourist attraction.</li><li>Mākereti Papakura's thesis was published posthumously in 1938 as The Old-Time Māori. It describes and analyses the customs of the indigenous people from a woman’s perspective, which had previously been ignored by male writers.</li><li>In 2007, a biography of Mākereti Papakura, Taking Māori to the World, was published, and she was the subject of an exhibition at the National Library of New Zealand.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSGeyser in Pohutu, Public domain, FlickrMakereti Papakura (1908), State Library of New South Wales collection, No restrictions, via Wikimedia CommonsCover image of Maggie’s Guide to the Hot Lakes, Kete Rotorua, Judith Prudence, CC BY NC SA 3.0, www.rotorua.kete.net.nz<div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div> </div>

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