Women Caught Between Two Worlds

Being a woman of colour in a predominantly white society brings with it a complex set of rules and expectations that are often not spoken about. Episode Four of Beyond Kate looks at some of the Maori suffragists who fought for women's rights and explores how decisions made in our history have impacted on women from non-Pakeha backgrounds today.

It's been more than a century since women gained the right to vote in New Zealand, and since that time our cultural landscape has changed dramatically.

Today, New Zealand is made up of a tapestry of diverse cultures. But back when the suffrage movement was taking place, it was largely driven by colonial Kotahitanga women.

At least, that's what the history books would tell you.

Māori suffragists were also part of the movement, but have largely gone unrecognised.

Lizzie Marvelly is a singer, a columnist for the NZ Herald and a public speaker on women's issues. She's currently co-producing a documentary about Māori suffragists called He Māngai Wāhine, which traces those stories of Māori women who were politically active around the time of the suffrage campaign.

One of those women was Mere Te Tai Mangakāhia, whose father was a Rangatira.

"She was only 24 when she stood at the Kotahitanga and presented a motion asking for women to be enfranchised," says Marvelly.

Importantly, Mangakāhia also fought for women to govern.

But in order to have a say, Māori women would have to give up something fundamental to them. In joining Kate Sheppard's suffrage movement, Māori women were presented with a pledge from the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

The pledge explicitly stated that along with vowing not to consume alcohol or smoke tobacco, they would also have to forgo receiving their Moko (or sacred female facial tattoo) in order to join the movement.

"They were being forced to adopt this potentially anti- Māori framework - one that had no understanding or respect for the cultural practice of Moko Kauae," says Marvelly.

It is around this time that the practice of Moko Kauae becomes less common: "On one hand it's a vow to join this temperance movement, which was about prohibition, but in order to have that you've got to give up your cultural practices," she says.

So what was really at stake for Māori women? Were they prepared to give up almost anything to have a say?

While the temperance movement was the driving force behind women's suffrage, it had serious flow-on effects for Māori. It was a matter of survival and a fight to keep their land…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details