Cooper, Fina

Hohepine ( Maori Hōhepine , variant of the name Josephine in Maori ) Te Wake was born on November 9, 1895 in the family of the Maori leader and Catholic catechist Jeremiah Te Wake, belonging to the tribe of Te Rarava ( Maori Te Rārawa ) ^{[4] [5]} . The village of The Karaka, where Fina was born, is located near Gisborne ^[2] . Hohepine's mother, Kare Pauro Kavatihi, was the second wife of Heremia. The newborn was mistaken for a boy and was baptized under the name Hohep (Joseph, Hōhepa), later the name was changed to Josephine ^[6] .

Father gave Fina primary education, and also from an early age prepared her for the fact that she (and not one of her sons) would become his successor, which caused dissatisfaction of relatives ^[5] . From the age of seven, Fina attended school in the village of Fakarapa, and then went to Napier , where the is located ^[6] . Upon her return in 1911, she rejected her father’s proposal to marry by agreement with the widowed leader of and got a job in a store ^[5] . After a short time, she changed several works, eventually returning to first place.

Hohepine’s first political action took place in 1914: she led a Maori group that prevented the draining of a marshy estuary , where white farmer Bob Holland wanted to graze his cattle (the Maori historically harvested seafood on this swamp) ^[2] . Bob received land for temporary use under the approval of the Maritime Administration, but thanks to the intervention of the Maori MPs, the lease was terminated with him ^[5] .

On May 10, 1917, Hohepine secretly married Richard Gilbert, a land surveyor from the Ngati Wai tribe, only the bride’s parents and the groom’s brother knew about the marriage ^[5] . The family disapproved of the fact that Fina did not inform them of their intentions, and in 1918, when both parents died from an influenza epidemic, the older brothers evicted her with her husband and newborn daughter Karla Te Morehu. In addition to clothing, the newlyweds were allowed to take only one pig ^[5] . Fina and Richard erected a traditional hut from the Nikau palm , where in 1919 their second child was born - Gerard ^[6] . Richard got a job at a woodworking enterprise, and Hohepine dug up an old Kauri plantation in search of expensive ^[5] .

In 1920, Charles Kreimborg, the priest who married Hohepine, inherited a large sum of money, and then lent it to Fina and Richard to buy his father’s estate together with the land and the store from his brothers. Hohepine took up trade and managed to pay off the debt within three years, open two more stores in neighboring settlements, upgrade the store, build a warehouse and a post office ^[5] . In 1923, she renamed Fakapapa to Panguru (in the south there was another settlement called Fakapapa) ^[5] . A few years later, the Hohepine family acquired a second farm.

In addition to business, Gilbert was engaged in social activities in the church and among the Māori. Unhappy that women, by tradition, should not speak in marae , she built her own assembly hall ^[5] . In addition, she opened a hospital, a school and a convent in the village. Fina turned into an influential figure for the Maori, and when Apirana Ngata decided to organize a meeting of Maori leaders in 1932 in order to familiarize them with new legislative acts that expanded the autonomy of the people in land use, he also invited Hohepine ^[5] . She was inspired by the proposed land allocation and financing schemes and took an active part in the development of the region, to which her village Panguru belonged ^{[4] [5]} .

Thanks to the hard work of Fina, the condition of the district improved rapidly, and she made friends with the senior manager of the region, William Turakiuta Cooper, they began an affair. In 1935, Hohepine became pregnant by William, and Richard Gilbert died of cancer during her pregnancy ^[5] . Fina, at a traditional Maori meeting, announced her plans to marry William, then still married, and get together with him, which made her compatriots furious ^{[2] [5]} . Cooper converted to Catholicism, and Fina moved to him in with her three children. The marriage took place on February 21, 1941, in this marriage she gave birth to four more ^[5] .

Even away from her home, Cooper was active: she helped organize the celebration of the centenary of the Waitangi treaty , restored the assembly house in , and raised money as part of the Maori Military Initiative ^[5] . After some time, she returned to Panguru, but her support level fell, she could not organize the construction of , and some of the farms organized on the initiative of Ngata turned out to be unprofitable. To restore relations with the Catholic Church, Cooper gave her six acres of land. In 1946, Fina welcomed the returning warriors of the 28th Maori battalion ^[5] .

In 1949, Bill Cooper suddenly died of a heart attack, and Hohepine decides to move from the countryside to the city (at that time, the active migration of Maori to the cities began) ^{[4] [5]} . In 1951, Cooper settled in the Auckland region of ^[5] . In the same year, Finu was elected the founding president of the Maori Women's Welfare League . Her first initiative was to organize an inspection of the housing in which Auckland's Maori lived, and it turned out that many of the houses were in unsanitary conditions. and demolished slums and increased quotas for social housing for Māori ^[5] .

In 1953, Hohepine became a holder of the Order of the British Empire for services ^[4] .

By 1956, the League, which was the first national organization in the country, had more than 300 branches and more than 4000 members ^[4] . The following year, Fina resigned as president under pressure from colleagues and continued her activism ^[5] . She raised funds to build the city marae in Auckland, as well as the Te Unga Waka Catholic Center, and organized an educational festival to mark the 128th anniversary of the signing of the Waitangi Treaty. However, her health was deteriorating, and in 1974, becoming commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fina announced that she had finished with community initiatives ^[5] .

However, in 1975, leaders of the Maori protest against land seizure invited her to lead the movement, and she proposed organizing a march from the very north of the North Island ( ) to Wellington , where the country's parliament sits ^[5] . 80-year-old Hohepine led a five-thousand-strong convoy of protesters, traveled more than 1,000 kilometers, stopping along the road to the marae to hold discussions on reform, and brought with her a petition with 60,000 signatures, including Prime Minister Bill Rowling ^{[4] [2]} . Many New Zealanders reported that the elderly Fina was the most inspiring part of the action ^[5] .

In 1981, Hohepina was awarded the title of Lady Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and ten years later, the Order of New Zealand ^[2] . She continued to take part in Waitanga celebrations, and in 1990 opened ^{[4] [5]} .

In 1983, Fina returned to Hokiang, where she died 11 years later ^[5] . The funeral was attended by several thousand people, more than a million viewers watched the broadcast ^{[4] [5]} .

In her free time, Hohepine was fond of hockey, as well as coaching for rugby and basketball players ^[5] . She became the first female president of the Rugby Association ( , in Northland ) ^{[2] [7]} .

• Michael King Cooper, Whina . Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (2000). Date of treatment December 10, 2015.
• Whina Cooper New Zealand Ministry of Culture . Date of treatment December 11, 2015.
• David Barber Obituary: Dame Whina Cooper . The Independent (October 23, 2011). Date of treatment December 11, 2015.
• Melvin Taylor. Whina Cooper (Eng.) // TE AO HOU. - 1955. - No. 12 . - P. 17-19 .

• Documentary film about Fin Cooper: first part , second part .
• 1975, Whina Cooper: A voice to be heard . The New Zealand Herald (October 18, 1975). Date of treatment December 11, 2015.
• 1975 march video .
• Te Matakite O Aotearoa (1975 documentary)