Moe Bella Akuhata-Brown née Kapene

Ngāi Tama Te Rangi

1931 - 1989



Moe Bella Akuhata-Brown was born in Wairoa and was educated at Rangiahua Māori School, Rotorua High School and Wairoa College. She attended Ardmore Teachers College and graduated with a Teachers Certificate, and passed various B.A. papers from Massey University. She worked as a trained reading recovery teacher and married Joseph (Hohepa) Akuhata-Brown, the son of Noa Akuhata-Brown, from Te Araroa. In 1962 the couple went to Western Samoa where Joseph worked as headmaster at the Aa’na District School and Moe worked as an assistant teacher until the end of 1965.

Biographical sources

  • Correspondence with Joseph Akuhata-Brown: 22 Nov. 1995.
  • Akuhata-Brown, M. B. “Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink.” Te Ao Hou 48 (1964): 15-16.
  • “Mr Noa Akuhata-Brown.” In ‘Haere Ki O Koutou Tipuna.’ Te Ao Hou 53 (1965): 63-64.

    Non-fiction

  • “Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink.” Te Ao Hou 48 (1964): 15-16.
  • Moe Akuhata-Brown writes of her life in Western Samoa where she and her husband, Joseph Akuhata-Brown, were teaching at Aa’na District School. She describes the struggles faced in obtaining water in the dry season and the methods of conserving dwindling water supplies.
  • “The Samoan Fine Mat.” Te Ao Hou 54 (1966): 12-13.
  • Moe Akuhata-Brown makes a careful study of the ‘ie-toga (fine mat) which, she states, owes it origins to the time of Tongan rule in Samoa. Today the fine woven mat is one of the most treasured Samoan possessions. Moe Akuhata-Brown discusses which women are eligible to weave the mat, and describes the weaving and naming customs.