Māori (New Zealand people) - Relations with East Indians

Date: 1994 - 01 Jan 1994

From: A history of Indian women in Aotearoa

By: Samuels, Lullita, active 1960s?-1994

Reference: OHInt-0063/03

Description: Lullita Samuels discusses her background in terms of her mother and iwi and her father and her Indian heritage. She reflects upon her earliest experiences, including doing vegetable and bottle rounds with her father and grandfather on Ponsonby Road. She talks about the men in the Indian community and the forming of the Indian Association. Explains how she lived with her Maori grandfather and then with her parents and recalls selling newspapers in front of her family's fruit shop. Talks about how she had to dress like an "Indian girl" and behave like one. Recalls how she was "Miss India" on a float in a parade for the Empire Games. Talks about not realizing she was Maori as a child, discovering her Maoritanga in her teenage years and discusses a period when she was not accepted by the Indian community. Discusses a romance with an Indian man marrying a Maori. Talks about raising 7 children and working at the same time. Discusses her experiences in recent years, her career, the reclaiming of her Maori identity, her future and vision of going back to India. Venue - Auckland Interviewer(s) - Mandrika Rupa Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-006128 Quantity: 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete brief abstract OHA-1375.

Date: 19 May 1994

From: A history of Indian women in Aotearoa

By: Singh, Sante, 1905-2001

Reference: OHInt-0063/11

Description: Sante Singh notes that she was born in 1905 at Haraghar, Hoshiarpur, Punjab State. Describes coming to New Zealand in 1932, her husband's work as a scrub and flax cutter in the Wanganui region, her life in New Zealand in the 1930's and the joys and struggles. Talks about the arrival of other Indian families, other immigrants, her contact with tangata whenua. Talks about how many of her friends on neighbouring farms were Maori and how many of the local Indians subscribed to the caste system and were exclusive about who they had contact with. Talks about how difficult it was to access Indian spices, about cooking, food and religious rituals. Discusses being a Sikh. Notes that she speaks Punjabi and a little English. Discusses farming, her family, childbirth and her children. Venue - Auckland Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-006142 Quantity: 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s) - summary notes. 1 interview(s). 1 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - other OHA-1383.

Date: 31 May 1995

From: A history of Indian women in Aotearoa

By: Keshar, Leila, active 1950s?-1995

Reference: OHInt-0063/01

Description: Leila Keshar (Mansel) talks about her grandfather and his early years in Aotearoa - around 1904. Discusses the marriage of her parents which went against tradition and convention - her mother, a Tainui Maori, and her father, an immigrant Hindu, married in 1936. Talks about the birth of her sister (Lullita Samuels) on a marae. Discusses early childhood memories which include her family socialising with Indian men who were single and working here before their families joined them. Recalls attending Maori tangi and the contrast between her father's Hindu perspective and her mother's Maori perspective. Discusses the taboos around eating beef and special food preparations. Talks about her father's involvement in setting up Gujarati classes at Gandhi Hall and the feeling of being on the periphery of both cultures. reflects on being a "good Indian girl", society's expectations, of having a choice about marriage and children. She discusses her career and working in a place with mostly Maori, finding an identity, grandchildren, her vision for her future and her desire for a trip to India. Venue - Auckland Interviewer(s) - Mandrika Rupa Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-006126 Quantity: 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - other OHA-1373.