graduation ceremony at the University of Oxford<\/a>, where Papakura was posthumously awarded her Master of Philosophy and Anthropology degree.<\/p>\nIt is believed Papakura was the first woman from an indigenous community to study at the university. <\/p>\n
![\"June]()
June Grant, the granddaughter of M\u0101kereti (Maggie) Papakura, receives her grandmother’s degree from the University of Oxford in a special ceremony in Britain. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
She died in 1930, aged 56, three weeks before her thesis was due and therefore never received her degree. <\/p>\n
In the decades since, her family, led by her granddaughter, Rotorua\u2019s June Grant, compiled her writings and fought to have her degree recognised.<\/p>\n
This year, her wh\u0101nau\u2019s wish was granted at a graduation ceremony on September 27 when Grant accepted Papakura\u2019s certificate from the university\u2019s vice-chancellor.<\/p>\n
![\"Makereti]()
Makereti (Maggie) Papakura’s wh\u0101nau at the University of Oxford graduation ceremony in September. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Papakura was posthumously awarded the degree for her work documenting the life, language and customs of Te Arawa people.<\/p>\n
Grant told the Rotorua Daily Post the degree was significant not only for M\u0101ori women, but women generally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking about a time when women weren\u2019t allowed to do these things. If they could study, it was done in the back corridors of the colleges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trophy<\/p>\n
The M\u0101kereti Papakura Taonga \u2013 Dux trophy was created by Brady Walker and took three years to complete.<\/p>\n
At the school\u2019s prizegiving, Grant explained the different parts of the trophy, saying it had a rimu base, and the representation of Papakura is carved from t\u014dtara.<\/p>\n
The korowai wrapped around her represents her whakapapa and her knowledge, and her moko kauae carries the form of the ruru \u2013 the guardian of wisdom and insight \u2013 reflecting her lifelong pursuit of learning and understanding.<\/p>\n
![\"Rotorua]()
Rotorua Girls’ High School’s new Dux trophy is in memory of Makereti (Maggie) Papakura, who was this year awarded a posthumous degree from the University of Oxford. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The outer surface of her korowai is matte, symbolising her humility, while the inner surface shines brightly to represent how Papakura\u2019s light continues to shine.<\/p>\n
Grant said the colours red, black and white were woven through the design, which relate to her Ng\u0101ti Wahio ancestry.<\/p>\n
Rotorua Girls\u2019 High School principal Sarah Davis told the Rotorua Daily Post the trophy was a fitting tribute to Papakura and the school was honoured to receive it from the wh\u0101nau for its top academic prize.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The colours red, black and white feature in the trophy’s design and relate to Makereti (Maggie) Papakura’s Ng\u0101ti Wahio ancestry. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cIt creates that legacy and hope that Maggie will not be the last woman from Rotorua who can go on to great things like studying at Oxford. It\u2019s not just about going back, it\u2019s about going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the Dux award was officially renamed in 2023, with Maumahara-A-K\u0113tia Pukeroa named Dux that year and Neve Allibone named in 2024. <\/p>\n
Both of their names will be on the trophy along with Rimaha\u2019s, who was the first to be officially presented the taonga.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost fitting that the wh\u0101nau went to the UK first to receive Maggie\u2019s degree before the trophy was officially given to the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rimaha\u2019s aspirations<\/p>\n
Like Papakura, Rimaha wants to put her academic skills to good use.<\/p>\n
The Ng\u0101ti Tahu-Ng\u0101ti Whaoa descendant is one of six children and credits her parents for her work ethic.<\/p>\n
![\"Purity]()
Purity Rimaha was also a Rotorua Girls’ High School Young Achiever. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t think of anyone who works harder than them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with her academic achievements, Rimaha is keen on the arts, involved in the school\u2019s choir and has performed in three school productions \u2013 the most recent playing PE teacher Miss Meyers in Freaky Friday.<\/p>\n
She is one of 24 selected by the Sharekspeare Globe Centre New Zealand Young Shakespeare Company to perform at the Globe Theatre in London next year.<\/p>\n
Next year she will also begin studying sociology at Victoria University.<\/p>\n
She aspires to work for the Ministry of Education, where she hopes to improve the education system, especially for M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are usually the ones that are struggling, and I want to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly Makiha<\/a> is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rimaha said hearing her name called out was incredibly special. \u201cIt was a huge honour and the moment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99110,1888,64408,99112,99111,111,43,139,69,86606,99108,14901,99109,38715,8488],"class_list":["post-147935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-dux","tag-first","tag-honouring","tag-maggie","tag-mkereti","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-papakura","tag-purity","tag-receives","tag-rimaha","tag-rotoruas","tag-trophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}