Whina Cooper

Also known asHōhepeni Te Wake Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

Josephine Te Wake Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

TitleDameBiographyHōhepeni Cooper (nee Te Wake) was born under the shadow of the Panguru Mountain in 1895. Her father Heremia Te Wake was a Catholic Church and community leader. From an early age a defender of causes and her people, Whina, as she was known, became a community leader in her thirties.
Whina married her first husband Richard Gilbert in Rawene in 1917. After Whina's parent's deaths, times were hard for the couple until a Catholic priest lent them money to grow their trading and farm businesses. Whina was an effective businesswoman and within three years she had paid the priest back and improved their holdings substantially.
In 1932 she played an active role with Apirana Ngata, in setting up Māori land development schemes in the Hokianga to support Maori to develop the infrastructure of their farms.
Whina's first husband died in March 1935 and she married William Cooper. They lived for a time at Kamo, Whangarei. Whina had seven children. After the death of her second husband in 1949 Whina moved to Auckland where she became the foundation president of the Maori Women's Welfare League. By the mid 1950s the League had over 300 branches and 4,000 members. In 1957 the League rewarded Whina with the title Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation).
Whina Cooper is perhaps best known for leading the famous 1975 1,100 km land march or hikoi from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament in Wellington. About 5,000 marchers arrived at Parliament on October 13, 1975, where Whina presented a petition named Memorial of Right to the Prime Minister, Bill Rowling. This petition, about Māori land alienation, was signed by 60,000 people.
In the 1953 Coronation Honours, Cooper was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people. In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori welfare and culture. In the 1981 New Year Honours, Cooper was further promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people, then in 1990, Cooper received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed the Order of New Zealand, our highest civil honour. In 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.
Whina Cooper opened the Auckland Commonwealth games in 1990 telling the international audience, "The Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa".
Whina Cooper died at Hokianga, once again in the shadow of Panguru Mountain, in March 1994, aged 98. Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

GenderFemale Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

Date of Birth9 December 1895 Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

Place of BirthTe Karaka, Northern Hokianga Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

Date of Death26 March 1994 Last edited by: Jennifer Gow

Place of DeathPanguru, Hokianga Last edited by: Jennifer Gow