May 01, 2024
Ngapare Hopa blazed trail for wāhine Māori academics
AUT Professor Ella Henry says the late Ngapare Hopa was an inspiration and a mentor to wāhine Māori academics.
Ngapare Kaihina ‘Polly’ Hopa, who died yesterday aged 88, received her doctorate from Oxford University in 1977, the first Māori woman to do so.
She was a strong advocate for mana wāhine and blazed a trail for Māori women in academia.
“So I’ve been very fortunate to have met, worked with, come to know and grow and love a whole generation of wāhine Māori that have transformed not just te ao Māori, but Aotearoa New Zealand. You know, at theses troubled political times when it feels on some days that the government is waging war on Māori, it’s good to remember that we come from strong bones,” Professor Henry says.
Dr Ngapare Hopa has been returned to Hukanui Marae in Gordonton with her rā nehu tomorrow.