Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
The first Māori woman to attend Oxford University died before the completion of her Bachelor of Science in Anthropology.
Over a century later, June Grant, a mokopuna of Mākareti Papakura, travelled to Oxford to commemorate her kuia and requested that an honorary doctorate be awarded posthumously.
Grant says although her kuia died prior to the completion of her mahi, she was lucky enough to have a good friend, TK Penniman, who promised to publish her work once she had died.
“So eight years following her death, TK Penniman took it upon himself, took her work to Wāhiao for her elders to look at and published her book.”