Book of the Week: HINE TOA by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku
The 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony* is just around the corner. The longlists have been assembled, the shortlists announced, and on Wednesday 14th May the winners in each section will take the stage. Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku is vying for the non-fiction award, and is a strong contender.
'Remarkable. At once heartbreaking and triumphant' — Patricia Grace
'Brilliant. This timely coming-of-age memoir by an iconic activist will rouse the rebel in us all. I loved it' — Tina Makereti
Emeritus professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) was the first wāhine Māori to earn a PhD in a New Zealand university. Te Awekōtuku has worked across the heritage, culture and academic sectors as a curator, lecturer, researcher and activist. Her areas of research interest include gender issues, museums, body modification, power and powerlessness, spirituality and ritual.
But growing up in Rotorua in the 1950s, whānau dismissed her dreams of higher education. To them, she was just a show-off, always getting into trouble, talking back, and running away.
In this fiery memoir about identity and belonging, Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku describes what was possible for a restless working-class girl from the pā. After moving to Auckland for university, Ngāhuia advocated resistance as a founding member of Ngā Tamatoa and the Women's and Gay Liberation movements, becoming a critical voice in protests from Waitangi to the streets of Wellington.
“Hine Toa defies easy categorisation. It is a rich, personal, stunningly evocative and creative memoir of Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku’s life, from early childhood on ‘the pā’ at Ōhinemutu to academic achievements such as being the first wahine Māori to be awarded a PhD in New Zealand. But it is also a fiery social and political history of this country through the mid late 20th century from a vital, queer, Māori, feminist perspective that deserves – and here claims – centre stage." —Ockham judges’ citation
Find out more:
* If you are in Auckland you can head along to the event at the Aotea Centre; the rest of us can watch the Ochkam NZ Book Awards ceremony live here.