Ākenehi Tōmoana (, ) was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

leader of chiefly status (''wāhine rangatira''), landowner, suffragist and women's rights activist in New Zealand.

Biography

Tōmoana was a prominent New Zealand Māori leader of chiefly status, descended from

Ngāti Te Rangiita Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

, Ngāti Turakiwai,

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti, Ngāti Te Whatu-i-āpiti or Ngāi Te Whatuiāpiti is a Māori hapū (subtribe or branch) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The hapū were descended from Te Whatuiāpiti, who was a great-grandson o ...

and

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...

. In 1852, Tōmoana married chief Hēnare Tōmoana of Heretaunga (died 1904). It was the second marriage for them both. They 13 children together including their son Paraire Hēnare Tōmoana, who became a sportsman. When the

Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nati ...

(now the Māori Land Court) was established in 1865 under the Native Lands Act, Tōmoana represented her land interests. In 1883 her husband said at a Native Land Court hearing that "through the courage of my wife Äkenehi ... lands have been retained." In 1893, Tōmoana accompanied

Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia Meri may refer to: * Meri (name) * Meri (mythology), folk hero in Bororo mythology *Meri, term in shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Ja ...

to present a motion at the

Te Kotahitanga The Kotahitanga movement was an autonomous Māori parliament convened annually in New Zealand from 1892 until 1902. Though not recognised by the New Zealand Government, the Māori Parliament was an influential body while it lasted. By 1902 its r ...

Māori parliament. They were the first women recorded to address the lower house and called for Māori women to be able to vote and stand for parliamentary seats. By 1895, Tōmoana became part of a group of high-status women called the "First Wives of Heretaunga", who established the Komiti Wahine Māori. At Te Haukē Marae, the group established a forum to discuss women's suffrage, equal rights for women, temperance, and the need to stop selling ancestral land. Tōmoana became ill in 1899 and retired from her campaigning activities. She died in 1908 and was buried at

Pakipaki Pakipaki is a pā kāinga ''village'' and rural community in the Hastings District, New Zealand, Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. The village is home to many Ngāti Whatuiāpiti hapū ''tribes'' represented b ...

, but was later moved to be buried at Waipatu with her husband.

Legacy

In 2020, writing by Tōmoana was set to music for a performance at the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Fringe Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tōmoana, Ākenehi 1843 births 1908 deaths Ngāti Kahungunu people Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti people New Zealand Māori women New Zealand suffragists Māori biography stubs Indigenous rights activists