Nellie Petersen has been a member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, a member of the marae committee and a member of the Anglican Māori Mission. She runs a canteen in a Community Centre.
Biographical sources
- Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 20.
Non-fiction
- "Nellie Peterson (1922)." Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 20.
- Peterson recalls her childhood years and fishing excursions with her Great-Aunt Hina Potiki. Peterson, noting the enormous importance of kai moana in her childhood, is angered by contemporary commercial fishermen overfishing of paua and mussel beds. She briefly discusses Māori life and customs in her childhood.
- "How Great-Aunt Hina Potiki Made Poha, Containers For Mutton Birds." Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 21.
- Peterson explains how her Great-aunt Hina Potiki made poha from bull kelp which was blown open to form a bag with sticks of willow, dried and flattened and then placed in flax carriers and wrapped in totara bark. Peterson states that the bags generally lasted a season.
- "Kohanga Reo." Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 50.
- Peterson discusses her difficulty in learning te reo Māori but expresses her desire to ‘learn eventually.’ She reveals that she is currently learning through the rakau method and by sitting in the Kohanga Reo classes and listening to supervisors speak with the children.