During the weekend, I got to watch the movie "Whina" with my youngest in celebration of Matariki and acknowledging the tangata whenua (indigenous peoples) of this land. It was a very interesting and moving story about Dame Whina Cooper and some of her trials and tribulations during her 98 years.
Afterwards, I watched "This is you Life" which was a 1980s NZ TV programme that honoured well known NZers for their contribution to the nation. Dame Whina Cooper was featured and many of her family and friends were able to pay tribute to her for the many things that she had done to inspire them.
One of the things that I learned about her was that she was very staunch in her ways that were not always popular with Pākeha (Europeans) and Maori alike. She was brought up Catholic and was able to keep stay true to her Maori upbringing and beliefs as well.
In NZ history, she was the leader of the first of many Maori land marches in the 1970s that implored the government to not sell anymore Maori land that today stands at only owning some 5% with non-Maori owning around 95%.
Her motto was about loosing "not one more acre" and I remember taking my students, pre-COVID to an exhibition at the Auckland Museum that displayed some of the iconic photos that were taken during that march with many memories on those who had passed away some 50 years ago.
Her legacy stands still to this day of one who stood strong for her people but also for the unity of NZ'ers. She is an inspiration for wanting to have a peaceable march that was about uniting people and sharing the burden of her people and one that all NZ'ers need to learn about or watch through this movie...
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