Our Invisible Wahine – Setting The Record Straight

New Zealand’s history books are full of the chronicled lives of mostly pākehā men. It doesn’t take much digging to see how easily the achievements and experiences of women and wāhine Māori can vanish from the official record. These women have been long over-looked or portrayed as bystanders to our history.

This is exactly what has happened with Whānau Āwhina Plunket’s story-telling over 114 years. Now is the time for change and to set the record straight.

“The truth is, if it wasn’t for two Māori midwives and healers – Mere Harper and Ria Tikini – and the patronage and support of Lady Victoria Plunket, Whānau Āwhina Plunket would not be here today,” says Whānau Āwhina Plunket Chief Executive, Amanda Malu.

It has long been the understanding that Dr Frederic Truby King single-handedly established the organisation that has been helping tamariki and whānau across New Zealand for 114 years. But that is only half the story.

Mere Harper and Ria Tikini were both of Kāi Tahu and Kāti Huirapa descent, and often worked closely with their friend and neighbour, Dr King, to care for the ill in their community. They were also some of the first health professionals to work in the Karitāne Home for Babies when it opened in Dunedin in 1907.

It was Mere and Ria who helped deliver Tommy Mutu in 1906 – and who’s concerns led them to seek the support of Dr King to nurture him back to strength when breastfeeding issues were causing him to lose weight and become unwell. Tommy has forever since been known as the first Plunket baby.

The history of Whānau Āwhina Plunket most of us know is – like much of Aotearoa’s history – incomplete at best, misleading and incorrect at worst. Stories have been told, but not the full story. This has rendered these founding wāhine toa invisible, and Whānau Āwhina Plunket’s bicultural origins have been forgotten.

Whānau Āwhina Plunket is on a journey to reclaim its whakapapa; to fulfil the legacy of Mere Harper and Ria Tikini by going back to its bicultural origins, ensuring equitable health outcomes for all whānau.

Mere and Ria reached out to form a partnership to achieve the best outcomes for their pēpi and whānau. They centred on the needs of their whānau and built a collaborative and supportive system around them. For Whānau Āwhina Plunket, and for Aotearoa, it is time to get back to those foundations.

“By acknowledging and embracing our bicultural origins, Whānau Āwhina Plunket is creating a shared space and working to become a truly bicultural organisation that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Whānau Āwhina Plunket is on the pathway to becoming what we were always meant to be: an organisation that partners with whānau, is helpful and doesn’t judge, is brave and thoughtful, and optimistic for the future,” says Ms Malu.

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