It is 130 years since Aotearoa New Zealand became the first self-governing country to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Kate Sheppard is likely the most recognised suffragist, but there were many others including Meri Mangakāhia (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Te Teinga, Ngāti Manawa, Te Kaitutae) and Ākenehi Tōmoana (Ngāi Te Rangiitā, Ngāti Papa-tua-maro, Ngāti Ngarengare, Ngāi Turahi).
Meri was the first woman recorded to address the lower house of the Te Kotahitanga Parliament (Māori Parliament) in 1893 calling for Māori women to be able to vote and stand for parliamentary seats. Ākenehi, who joined Meri at her address to the lower house, was a well-educated prominent Māori woman leader of chiefly status.
At the heart of the Māori women’s movement were concerns about the well-being of Māori, the loss of land, and restrictions on Māori women’s rights to own land imposed by European laws. ‘Wāhine rangatira’ (women of chiefly status) were used to having decision-making power, but the new European system forced them to find new ways to assert their authority.
Source: 130 years of Women’s Suffrage, the role wāhine Māori played, and today