2018 marks the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand; on 19 September 1893, the Electoral Act (1893) was passed and women in New Zealand won the right to vote. Anniversaries of this event are special opportunities to reflect on women’s leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Petone Settlers Museum Te Whare Whakāro o Pito-one is proud to present Whakatū Wāhine – Women Here and Now as part of the 125th anniversary commemorations. We chose to showcase the contributions younger generations of women make to our communities’ health and vibrancy. To do this, we invited the public to nominate women aged 15 to 40 who demonstrate inspiring leadership in the Te Awakairangi Lower Hutt area to be featured in this display.
From a large group of nominations, our selection panel chose five women’s stories to share: Sharee Adam, Te Hau Winitana, Sithmi Sathruwani, Skye Chadwick and Sisi Tuala-Le’afa. These wāhine exemplify contemporary community leadership.
Whether their focus is on fostering cultural identity through language and dance, building resilient communities, or addressing diversity in a changing technological world, this new generation is leading community change we can all be proud of.
Sharee Adam (Ngāti Koroki-Kahukura, Ngāti Paoa)
Founding member, Tōku Reo Charitable Trust
“Not only did I learn the words, the kupu, I learnt how to be; how to be a person, what it was like to see te ao Māori…and I learnt how you’re supposed to treat people as well.” – Sharee Adam
For Sharee Adam, learning and teaching te reo Māori is more than sharing new words and sentence structures. She explains “it is about learning your identity through the words of your tīpuna (ancestors); it can become a healing process for some people.”
In 2014, Sharee co-founded Tōku Reo Charitable Trust with friend Moana Kaio (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Pikiao) to provide more opportunities for whānau (families) to speak reo Māori. Sharee reflects “a lot of people were learning the reo, but it wasn’t making its way back into the home.” Sharee believes that intergenerational language use in the home is essential to the health and continuation of te reo Māori. By supporting ‘language leaders’ within a whānau, future generations have a chance to grow up with reo Māori in their everyday lives.
Tōku Reo Trust runs several kaupapa, or initiatives, in total immersion language learning – from knitting circles to leadership programmes aimed at creating future reo champions. Their latest project has been establishing a community garden at Hikoikoi Pā, Petone, launched during Matariki 2018. Support from the local mana whenua governing bodies adds to the mana (prestige) of the work Sharee and Moana share with the community.
Sharee’s commitment to the revitalisation of te reo Māori is localised and powerful, and will benefit generations to come.
