Matarena Marjorie Rau-Kupa née Raumati

Ngāti Mutunga

1913 -

Matarena Marjorie Rau-Kupa was born near the Ruapekapeka Urenui Marae and was educated at the Urenui Primary School. When her father suddenly went blind, Marjorie had to leave school to help in the home. Matarena grew up in Urenui and has taken part in "everything that’s Māori and Pakeha". With her Aunty Ngahina Okeroa, Aunty Netta Wharehoka and Aunty Sally Karena she founded a whare wananga at Parihaka on 18 March 1972. She has been actively involved in issues involving Taranaki. Matarena states "Taranaki must always be vigilant, that the outcome of any consultations with the Pākehā take account of Taranaki views."

Biographical sources

  • Phone conversation with Marjorie Rau-Kupa, 29 July 1998.
  • Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 210.

    Papers/Presentations

  • "The Mobil Connection." Art Galleries and Museums Association of New Zealand Journal (Spring 1986). No details. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 210-212.
  • A discourse on the struggle to prevent large companies polluting the waterways and kaimoana in the Taranaki area. Rau-Kupa specifically outlines the grievance against Mobil who in their sponsorship of Te Māori gave the impression of honouring the Māori people and their relationship with the ancestral homes, while deliberately releasing pollution at the Waitara outfall against the expressed wishes of the Māori people.
  • "1988 Conference: Marjorie Rau-Kupa (Ngāti Mutunga o Te Ati Awa)." AGMANZ Journal 19.2 (1988): 22-23.
  • A paraphrase of Rau-Kupa’s address at the 1988 AGMANZ Conference in which she asserted the importance of aroha and he tangata. Rau-Kupa discusses the significance of the white feathers she wears which symbolise peace and relationship with Te Whiti, and affirms the importance of wairua in Māori culture.
  • Mana Wahine: Women who show the way. Ed. Amy Brown. Photographs by Jocelyn Carlin. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1994.