//008 Meri Te Tai Mangakahia

 In 2018 Aotearoa celebrated 125 years of suffrage. Of women winning the right to vote. One wahine who played an integral part in that history making moment was Meri Te Tai Mangakahia. Of Te Reinga, Ngati Manawa and Te Kaitutae of Te Rarawa, she was the first woman ever recorded to have addressed the Kotahitanga Parliament. In that time she requested Māori women not only be given the vote, but that they also be eligble to sit in the Māori Parliament. 

In our only posthumous profile for the #NUKU100 we learn about this rangatira though her great granddaughter Challen Wilson, and great grand niece, Emma Frost. They share their stories of their kuia, her personality, her political influence, and how her journey has inspired their pathways today.