Whina Cooper was born at Te Kanaba in northem Hokianga (New Zealand) on 9th December, 1895.

She was the daughter of the tribal chief Heremia Te Wake, from an early age she showed an interest in her father’s role (leader and catechist for the catholic church), history and genealogy.

She was a teacher for a brief time, later she worked as a storekeeper and she was a social activist for most of her life. At age of 18 she organized her first protest concerning the draining of a local swamp. She campaigned throughout her life for land rights and social justice of the aboriginal Maori people.

When her second husband died in 1949, her political activity changed from local to national.

In September 1951 she was elected first president of Maori Women’s Welfare League which was able to improve things notably for Maori women on working, better health, housing, education and welfare.

Two years later she became a justice of the peace. In 1975 Cooper established the group Te Roopu o Te Matakite and, despite the need for a cane, walked around the North Island at the head of the month long Maori Land Reform March. She was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981 and a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1991.

Whina Cooper returned to Hokianga in 1993, and died there, at the age of 98, on 26 March 1994

MERCEDES CASTÁN MARTÍNEZ – ENGLISH FOR FUN 3C