Women of Ōtaki: Photographs 1860s - 1970s

Historical photographs of Ōtaki women selected from the Ōtaki Historical Society’s Women’s Suffrage exhibition, 1995.

These photographs offer us a glimpse of the social fabric of Ōtaki over the course of a hundred years. They depict women from the Māori, Pākehā and Chinese communities in Ōtaki and were selected from a larger exhibition at Raukawa Marae organised by the Ōtaki Historical Society in 1992 to mark the centennial of Women’s Suffrage.

The women are from all walks of life - farmers, doctors, weavers, nurses, composers, orators, midwives, teachers, missionaries, businesswomen and community leaders. In addition they were the mothers of often large families. Influential Māori women include Te Rangi Topeora, a rangatira (chieftainess) of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa, known for her oratory, and waiata compositions. Lucy Atareti Jacob served on committees for the Red Cross, Country Women’s Institute and the National Council of Women, and received an MBE for her service to these communities.