Mary Mereiwa Broughton (née Whakaruru, 24 December 1938 – 31 January 2016), known as Mere Broughton, was a New Zealand

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

activist and unionist.

Early life

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

and

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 ...

descent, she was born on 24 December 1938 in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

and raised in

Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was est ...

and

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distr ...

before training as a nurse and working at

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

Hospital. On 21 May 1960, she married Anglican priest Ruka Broughton, with whom she raised five children. They divorced in 1978.

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s she worked at

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

, co-establishing Te Herenga Waka Marae with

Te Huirangi Waikerepuru Huirangi Eruera Waikerepuru (1 April 1929 – 8 April 2020) was a New Zealand Māori language activist and trade unionist of Taranaki and Ngāpuhi descent. He was active in the foundation and governance of Māori language radio and television. ...

, Wiremu Parker and her husband. Also at the university she became active in union affairs, in the Association of University Staff (now the TEU). In 2010, she became the TEU's first life member. Broughton was on the Tekaumārua, the advisory board to the

Māori King 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 ...

Tūheitia Paki Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII GCCT KStJ KCLJ (born Tūheitia Paki; 21 April 1955 – 30 August 2024), crowned as Kīngi Tūheitia, reigned as the Māori King from 2006 until his death in 2024. He was the eldest son of the previous Mā ...

. In 2014, she was part of the New Zealand delegation that sent off the canoes of the

Polynesian Voyaging Society The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawaii. PVS was established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods. Using replicas of traditional double-hul ...

, Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia.

Death

She died on 31 January 2016 at her home in Waitara and was buried at

Pākaraka Pākaraka, previously known as Okehu, Maxwelltown, and most recently Maxwell, is a farming and lifestyle community west of Whanganui, on the North Island of New Zealand. Toponymy Local Māori knew the area as Pākaraka ("an abundance of k ...

Marae, near

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

Honours

Broughton was recognised with the Civic Honour Award by

Hutt City Council The Hutt City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt is the country's seventh largest city. The city borders Porirua to the north, Upper Hutt to the northeast, South Wairarapa District ...

in 1999. She was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or app ...

for community service in the

2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London G ...

. In 2009, she received the Tā Kīngi Ihaka Award from

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

in recognition of a lifetime contribution to the development and retention of Māori arts and culture.

References

External links

Waka Huia episode featuring Broughton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Mere 1938 births 2016 deaths Māori language revivalists New Zealand trade unionists Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal Ngāpuhi people Ngāi Tūhoe people Ngāti Kahungunu people Ngāti Awa people Te Āti Awa people Te Arawa people People from Hastings, New Zealand