Life of Maria, the Converted Half-Caste – Maria Morete (1887)
Life of Maria by Maraea Morete constitutes one of the earliest autobiographies written by a Māori woman.
Publication details
Morete, M. Life of Maria, the Converted Half-Cast, War Cry. 1 October 1887.
About the book
Using a mixture of first and third person, this article published in the War Cry, gives an account of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki woman Maraea Morete’s (1844-1907) encounter with the Salvation Army in Gisborne and her eventual conversion. In later years she recorded her reminiscences, which are part of the manuscript collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Historian Judith Binney claimed Maraea’s memoir constitutes one of the earliest autobiographies written by a Māori woman.
Further information
This publication is part of the series Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications - a sample list of 150 non-fiction books produced by a partnership between Royal Society Te Apārangi and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.