Prue Kapua
Profile
Prue Kapua is a lawyer with an extensive background in resource management and the Treaty sector. Her practice predominantly involves Māori land law and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, family and medico legal issues. She has supported whānau, hapū, and iwi claimants in several Waitangi Tribunal inquiries and in 2018 was appointed as a Member of the Waitangi Tribunal.
Often working at the intersection of gender and ethnicity, Prue, through her many roles has sought to address the double inequities faced by wāhine Māori. She is currently the co-Chair of Oranga Tamariki Māori Design Group and Chair of the Interim Te Rōpū on Family Violence, Sexual Violence, and Violence within Whanau. Prue Kapua is the immediate past President of Maori Women’s Welfare League, having been the longest serving President in the organisation’s 70 year history.
Insight
Maori Women’s Welfare League, Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko i te Ora
Founded in 1951, Maori Women’s Welfare League, Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko i te Ora is principally focused on the health, education and wellbeing of Māori women and their whanau. It is a membership organisation with over 3,000 members across 130 peka (branches).
Working at a grass roots level with whanau, hapu and iwi, the League’ motto “Tatau Tatau” stands for working together as an organisation, to enable and empower Māori women and their whānau to follow and achieve their aspirations.
Maori Women’s Welfare League describe themselves as: ‘nannies, mothers, sisters, daughters, doctors, lawyers, teachers, students, gardeners, chefs, business owners, young and old. Everyday women, who are united by a common cause. To connect to our communities, to uplift and encourage, and to support and develop all Māori women, their whanau and Aotearoa in general.’
Te Reo Glossary
Te Reo Glossary
ākonga
student, pupil
alofa
love, affection (Cook Islands Māori language)
Aotearoa
New Zealand
aroha
love, affection
haere rā
goodbye, farewell
hapū
subtribe, part of a kinship group
ira tangata
term used for intersex in a Māori context
irawhiti
term used for transgender in a Māori context
Itāria
Italy
iwi
extended kinship group descended from a common ancestor and associated with a distinct territory in Aotearoa
kairangahau
researcher
kaitiaki
guardian
kaitiakitanga
guardianship, stewardship
kia kaha ngā wāhine toa
be strong woman warriors
kia ora
hello, greetings
kia orana
hello, greetings (Cook Islands Māori language)
kōrero
conversation, discussion
kuia
female elder
mahi
work
māmā
mother, mum
mana
status, prestige, authority,
Māngere
a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand
Māori
Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand
mauri
life force, life principle
moana
ocean, sea
Ōtautahi
Christchurch, city in South Island, New Zealand
Ōtepoti
Dunedin, city in South Island, New Zealand
pākeha
New Zealander of European/foreign descent
peka
branch (of a tree, river, organisation)
Pōneke
Wellington, Capital of New Zealand
rangatahi
youth, young people
takatāpui
queer, gay, rainbow community
Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland, city in North Island, New Zealand
tapu
sacred, prohibited
tautoko
to support, advocate
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata
Human Rights Commission, New Zealand
Te Kaunihera Wahine o Aotearoa
National Council of Women of New Zealand
Te Kotahitanga
Autonomous Māori Parliament from 1892 to 1902
Te Moana-Nui-ā-Kiwa
the Pacific Ocean
te reo
the Māori language
Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko i te Ora
Māori Women’s Welfare League
Te Wāhi Wāhine o Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland Women’s Centre
tikanga
protocol, correct procedure
wāhine
woman, women
wāhine kaha
strong woman/women
waiata
song, chant
waiata taitoko
song of support usually sung after a speech
wairua
spirit, soul
whakapapa
genealogy, lineage
whānau
family, extended family group
whare
house, building