Confirmed Biographical Subjects and Their Authors

This section identifies those wahine/women that currently comprise the proposed collection of biographical essays and case studies as at 1st of February 2009.

Rather than just compile a list an outline map of New Zealand has been utilised to assist visitors to choose a location (or locations) that interests them. When a locality on the map is clicked a list of the current relevant biographical essays or case studies appears.

An example of an individual entry under a specific Shore Whaling Station (One Kakara or Moeraki) is as follows:

Te Ruakaio:
Iwi: Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha
Shore Whaling Station that she was Principally Associated With: One Kakara or Moeraki Whaling Station, North Otago
Essay Author: Stephen J Donaldson
Date of Essay Acceptance: January 2008
Type of Profile: Biographical Essay (Could also read “Detailed Case Study”)

Under the station names the biographical subjects are listed in alphabetical order. The main shore whaling station (“station”) that the biographical subject was associated with has been identified. Some wahine/women were known to be associated with more than one station or locality and so in some cases some cross-referencing has been necessary.

A master alphabetical list has also been complied to provide visitors with a “ready reference”. Again this includes all wahine/women that have been profiled whether they partnered shore whalers or not. Where a subject is Māori her Māori name has been used. There are some half Māori and half Pākehā women associated with the One Kakara or Moeraki since that station is to be the subject of a specific case study.

As contact is made with new contributors the lists applicable to individual Shore Whaling Stations and the master alphabetical list will both be progressively updated.

The outline map does not include all shore stations (and other places of interest) that may have existed in the geographic area covered by this project. This is because locations most likely to be associated with known biographical subjects have been chosen. For subjects associated with locations outside of the Kāi Tahu rohe the places selected have required some educated “guess work”. The outline map should still however, cover the majority of locations, which will be of interest. There is also a miscellaneous locations tab positioned to the left hand top of the outline map where additional places of interest can be added should this be necessary.

There are localities on the map that were not whaling stations. Some of the shore whalers resided in these localities (e.g. The Neck situated on Rakiura or Stewart Island) in the off-season. Other locations are where contemporaries of the shore whalers lived.

Against some of the locations the comment “Biographical subject list yet to be considered” appears. In some cases tentative lists of possible subjects for future biographical essays have already been compiled. Examples are the Bank Peninsula, Kapiti Island stations and Stewart Island or Rakiura.

Existing Detailed Case Studies:

The subjects of my Existing Detailed Case Studies are

1.  Hineawhitia
Essay Author: Stephen J Donaldson
Station Associated with: Omaui at the mouth of the Oreti River Southland. She later lived at Rakiura or Stewart Island.

Hineawhitia had two Pākehā partners. Her biographical account details both of these relationships. The fact that one was a sealer and the other partner a whaler (headsman) adds interest. In my opinion she is perhaps one of the best examples of a southern wahine that was involved in a bi-cultural relationship. This is despite the fact that Hineawhitia was also my tupuna’s (Tētē’s or Tei Tei’s) sister and I may therefore be accused of bias.

2.  Hākiri or Ākiri
Essay Author: Stephen J Donaldson
Whaling Stations Associated with: Ōtākou, Otago Peninsula, Otago and Ikoraki, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury. She later lived at Moeraki. North Otago.

Ākiri was my great great great grandfather’s (William I Haberfield’s) second Māori wife. She was also commonly known by the surnames Price and Hampstead. Earlier she had been the partner of Joseph Price a headsman at Ōtākou and then later the manager/owner of the Ikoraki whaling station situated on Banks Peninsula. This wahine is a challenge to research due to the number of varying accounts of her life. In my view this work involves sorting the fact from the fiction. Sometimes this is easier said than done.