Pioneer Women - Princess Te Puea

Ka mahi au, ka inoi au, ka moe au, ka mahi ano' (I work, I pray, I sleep, and then I work again).

– Te Puea's inscription in the meeting house at Motatau

You are all words Pōmare: Pākāha words, Pākehā thinking! You have made Waikato the plaything of the Pākehā. And you the Member of Parliament ... ha! You are a puppet!

– Te Puea (Joanna Paul) to Māui Pōmare (Māui Pōmare)

The more I thought about the whole question of New Zealand identity the more I started to suspect that it may have been the pioneer women rather than the men who determined who we are. Not only did these women have to go out there and survive — and they showed great stoicism in the face of hardship — but they also had the task of raising a new generation.

– Pamela Meekings-Stewart in The Listener, May 1983

They tell us to fight 'for King and Country'. Yeah well that's alright: we've got a King! But we haven't got a country anymore: the Pākehās took that from us! So I say to them: give us back our land, and then perhaps we'll think about it again!

– Te Puea (Joanna Paul) campaigns against the conscription of young Waikato Māori men in World War I