Hine Toa: A profound and spellbinding memoir by the trailblazing women's and Maori rights activist

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The immersive, inspiring and long-awaited memoir by legendary activist and scholar Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

Ohinemutu, the 1960s. On a pa on the western edge of Lake Rotorua, a young girl is adopted into a world of boiling mud and hissing steam. Raised by a kuia and mother skilled in weaving and haka, the girl is different - nose always in a book, Miss Too Big for Her Boots - and longs to be accepted by her community for who she really is.

After gaining a scholarship to study at university, she discovers an educational and legal system that ignores her, and is determined to fight for justice. Ngahuia stokes resistance as a founding member of Nga Tamatoa and Women's and Gay Liberation movements, becoming a critical voice in protests around the country, from Waitangi to the steps of parliament.

In this transporting, fiery and inspiring memoir by one of New Zealand's most legendary activists and scholars, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku tells her story of re-defining what was possible for a working-class girl from the pa.

Roaming between the beauty and violence of the 60s and 70s, the personal and the political, Hine Toa is a coming-of-age story about a girl who grew up with the odds stacked against her, but who had the strength and courage to carve a path of her own.

Author Bio

Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Te Arawa, Tuhoe) is a veteran cultural activist who grew up in a tribal family of traditional storytellers, weavers and singers. Her undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Auckland were in English Literature, Art History and Anthropology. She was a founding member of Maori rights movement Nga Tamatoa, as well as Women's and Gay Liberation. In 1981 she became the first Maori woman to receive a doctorate in New Zealand. Ngahuia has written two collections of creative fiction, and many scholarly works published locally and internationally. Her work in the heritage sector has been as a curator, teacher, critic, lecturer, art-maker and governor, serving on many boards over the decades. She is the principal author of the award-winning book Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo. She is Emeritus Professor at the University of Waikato; a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit; and Companion of The Royal Society - Te Aparangi.