Elizabeth Cunningham
one of our stunning tāua!
Where do you start on a piece about a tāua who does more in her day than you do! Elizabeth Cunningham, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, is one of those wahine who make you feel exhausted about what she achieves in a day, let alone a week. Elizabeth is on numerous committees, often chairing them whilst representing her hapū at Koukourarata and Rēkohu on numerous kaupapa and attending hui that take days not hours, and the preparation for these hui on top of the days attending. Plus, she is the Madam Chair of the Rapaki Māori Women’s Welfare League which she has been a member of since 1978, and in 2022 the National Conference for the Māori Women’s Welfare League was in Ōtautahi. So, more mahi for this mahi magnet tāua!
We wanted to acknowledge Elizabeth because there is another kaupapa she has offered her her wā and tautoko to and that is the rejuvenation of Ngāi Tahu maternity knowledge and practices alongside our other special matriach Ranui Ngarimu. These two have held the hands of myself through my doctorate, this website Hākui, and the tapuhi o Te Waipounamu – Māori Midwives ki Tahu. We have all gained from their wisdom and wit. They are both honest, direct and generous. Their grace and guidance has, and I suspect will continue to be the glue that holds us together when life gets too busy or we are pulled into other kaupapa Māori. Both Elizabeth and Ranui will draw us back with their “kia mau ki tēnei kaupapa”, lest we digress!
Elizabeth has a background in health as a nurse and throughout her career she has given so much of her time and knowledge to: health, education, enivironment and cultural kaupapa – within both mainstream and Māori organisations, collectives, committees, boards and to individuals. She has been the clinician, service provider and policy developer. Elizabeth was the Chairperson of Kawawhakaruruhau for the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at Ara. She has served as an Environment Canterbury councillor and is a Justice of the Peace. There are not many who don’t know Elizabeth in Ōtautahi or who haven’t been involved with work she has a key role in. I could write pages and pages about the entities she has something to do with, needless to say she is a passionate wahine for kaupapa Māori, kaupapa whānau and kaupapa whenua. It’s in her whakapapa, even her late twin sister Linda, who was the National Chairperson of the National Māori Women’s Welfare League and many years as a Health and Disability Consumer Advocate for the Advocacy Services Canterbury/West Coast, and not to leave out the many committees and boards Linda contributed to also. Elizabeth carries on the mahi with Linda’s spiritual tautoko that becomes palpable when Linda gives Elizabeth an assertive sisterly nudge to step up for whānau wellbeing. So, it is a privilege to have these wise wāhine, Elizabeth and Ranui, as our backbone, who remind us of whakapapa whilst clearing the pathway for us to proceed forward with this specific restoration of mātauranga Ngāi Tahu.