Pirihira Heketa was born at Patangata, the daughter of Ritihia and Warena Te Whatuiapiti Renata. She grew up in Pukehou. She married Te Ua in an arranged marriage. After his death, she married Tuhi Te Okanga Heketa Te Awe and moved to Lower Hutt and Wellington where she lived until her death. She was a rangātira of Ngāti Te Whatuiapiti and was "considered to be urukehu." She was deeply committed to tikanga Māori (especially Ngāti Kahungunutanga) and shared her commitment with many of the young people at Ngāti Poneke. A biographical account of her life has been written by Miriama Scott, one of her grandchildren.
Biographical sources
- Email correspondence from Miriama Scott, 14 May 2004.
- The Book of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa. Ed. Charlotte Macdonald, Merimeri Penfold and Bridget Williams. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams, 1991. 280-283.
Biography
- Where the People Sing: Green Land of the Māoris. John Lee Zimmerman. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946. 172-173, 181-183. Rpt. in The Book of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa. Ed. Charlotte Macdonald, Merimeri Penfold and Bridget Williams. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams, 1991. 281-282.
- Miriama Scott writes that Pirihira’s "depth of knowledge about tikanga Māori is reflected in her conversation with John Lee Zimmerman, an American linguist who was an interpreter for the Marine Corps and frequent visitor to 370 Tinakori Road, Wellington". [The Book of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa. 282.]
Other
- Scott, Miriama. "Pirihira Raukura Waioeka Heketa. [Ko Renata te tangata]" Biography of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa. Ed. Charlotte MacDonald, Meremere Penfold and Bridget Williams. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams, 1991. 280-283.
- The Silent Migration Ngāti Poneke Young Māori Club 1937-1948. Ed. Patricia Grace, Irihapeti Ramsden and Jonathan Dennis. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2001. 107-114.
- Evening Post 25 and 27 Sept. 1947. No further details.