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  3. ‘I am writing to you for you to hear’: Māori Women, Politics and Petitions in the 19th Century
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‘I am writing to you for you to hear’: Māori Women, Politics and Petitions in the 19th Century

The Public History Talks are hosted by the Ministry for Culture & Heritage History Group at the National Library of New Zealand. They are usually held on the first Wednesday of the month from March to November.

Talks in this series are usually recorded and available online

  • Date: Wednesday, 4 April, 2018
  • Time:

    12:10pm to 1:00pm

  • Cost:

    Free — booking is not required.

  • Location:

    Programme Rooms, Te Ahumairangi (ground floor), National Library, corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon

  • Contact Details:

    ATLOutreach@dia.govt.nz

Listen to this talk now

Petitions in a colonial era

During the nineteenth century, hundreds of Māori, including around 145 women, petitioned the Government, for remedies to injustices visited on their communities and families.

Come and hear Dr Angela Wanhalla talk about these women and their concerns. Learn about this important body of Māori writing that can offer insights into Māori women’s experiences of the colonial era.

Get an insight into Māori women’s experiences of the colonial era

Collective petitions have helped force significant political and social reform in New Zealand. In the same year that New Zealand women won the right to vote, two Kāi Tahu women from Taumutu addressed a petition to their representative, the MHR for Southern Māori, H.K. Taiaroa, praying for relief.

In September, as women were celebrating the passage of the 1893 Electoral Act, a Māori woman petitioned the government’s Native Affairs Committee about the confiscation of her whānau’s land at Taranaki.

These women are just a few of the hundreds of Māori petitioners who addressed the state during the nineteenth century, including around 145 women who appealed for remedies to injustices visited on their communities and families.

About the speakers

Angela Wanhalla teaches in the Department of History and Art History at the University of Otago, Dunedin. Her talk will draw upon her most recent book, He Reo Wāhine: Māori Women’s Voices from the Nineteenth Century, (Auckland, 2017), co-authored with Māori-language scholar and historian, Lachy Paterson.

Cover of book He Reo Wāhine
Cover of He reo wāhine: Māori women’s voices from the nineteenth century by Lachy Paterson and Angela Wanhalla (Auckland University Press, 2017). Ref: A-275-005

Public history talk 2018

  • 14 Mar: 'A Strange Beautiful Excitement, Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington, 1888–1903'
  • 4 Apr: ‘I am writing to you for you to hear’: Māori Women, Politics and Petitions in the 19th Century
  • 2 May: Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet, and Foxtrots: New Zealand’s Jazz Age
  • 6 Jun: The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, redux
  • 4 Jul: Researching kindergarten: the endeavours of women for the play of children
  • 1 Aug: Re-evaluating Polly Plum’s contribution to the 'first wave' of feminism
  • 5 Sep: A material history of dress
  • 3 Oct: The tragedy of the SS Talune and the 1918 influenza pandemic
  • 7 Nov: The saving of Old St Paul's
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