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Download AudioTaonga presented to a valued nurse and midwife has been returned to the people of Parihaka after 82 years.
They include a Korowai, piupiu, and tīpare given by the women of Parihaka to Mary Brigid Brophy in 1940 to wear on her wedding day.
Community spokesperson Aroaro Hond says the event and Ms Brophy’s work were written up in the Taranaki Daily News at the time.
“(It said) she had been at their beck and call, ready to assist in cases of sickness, and she had done wonderful work with the Māori. Mrs M Biggs placed the Korowai over Ms Brophy’s shoulders. Mrs Piritahu placed the piupiu around her and Mr Roots on behalf of the Māori then presented a chiming clock and a crystal decanter set on a crystal tray,” she read.
Aroaro Hond says after the death of Mary Brophy’s daughter in Perth last year her family followed through with her wish for the taonga to go back to Taranaki.
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