17 October 2007: Makereti: taking Māori to the world
Makereti: taking Māori to the world
National Library Gallery
30 November 2007 – 15 March 2008
Free entry
"By last night's mail Miss Maggie Papakura received a postcard from Jamaica bearing the address 'Maggie, New Zealand'. This shows that the postal officials recognise only one Maggie in the Dominion." – unidentified newspaper clipping, 10 December 1907.
Makereti (1873-1930), better known as Maggie Papakura, was one of the most famous guides at the Whakarewarewa thermal village in Rotorua. She pioneered what we now know as the Māori concert party and led troupes of performers to Australia and England – complete with a carved village.
But there is much more to the story of 'Guide Maggie'.
Based on Paul Diamond's recently published biography, Makereti: taking Māori to the world, a new exhibition of the same name, based on the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, illustrates Makereti's early years in Whakarewarewa but also explores her other achievements and endeavours.
Makereti's marriage to Richard Staples-Browne took her to Oxfordshire, where she became part of the English gentry. She studied anthropology at Oxford University and died just before the completion of her thesis on traditional Māori life.
Makereti was one of New Zealand’s first international media celebrities, best known for her work as a guide. This exhibition provides a fuller story, and commemorates the life of a remarkable woman who defied the limited expectations for women and Māori during her lifetime.
Download high-resolution publicity images
For further information
Susan Bartel
Public Relations Manager, National Library Gallery
Phone (04) 474 3119 or 021 233 5159
