Nearly 100 years after her death, Oxford University has posthumously awarded an MPhil to Mākereti Papakura, believed to be the first woman from an Indigenous community to study at the institution. Papakura died in 1930, just weeks before submitting her thesis documenting the life and customs of her Te Arawa people.
Born in 1873 in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty region, Papakura grew up in a time of significant change for Māori under colonisation. She worked as a guide near Rotorua, gaining attention during a royal visit in 1901, and later travelled to England with a cultural performance group. After marrying Englishman Richard Staples-Browne, she moved to Oxfordshire and enrolled at Oxford, befriending anthropologist TK Penniman.
Papakura spent years writing detailed accounts of her tribe's genealogy, language and traditions. After her death, Penniman published her work as The Old Time Māori, which descendants say remains vital for reclaiming language and ancestral knowledge, and has been used in legal land claims.
Last week, more than 100 family and iwi members travelled to Oxford for the ceremony. Descendant June Northcroft Grant accepted the certificate, fighting back tears. A livestream at the Natural History Museum prompted a thunderous haka from watching relatives.
Vice-chancellor Professor Irene Tracey said it was an honour to recognise Papakura's influence as a scholar, noting the rarity of women and Indigenous students at Oxford in her time. The delegation also presented a two-metre carved figure, or pou, that Papakura had brought to England in 1911.
