Hana Mere Te Hemara (16 February 1940 – 10 October 1999) was a prominent Māori activist and leader.
Te Hemara, of Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa descent, was the seventh of 12 children,[1] born in Puketapu and educated at the Waitara Convent.
[3][4][5] She grew up in Mangakino where her father worked on the dams at Karapiro and Mangakino[5] Later she worked as a telephone operator in various places[5][1] Te Hemara started studying at the University of Auckland in 1969[1] at the age of 30 to study politics[5] and New Zealand history.
[5][2][1][3] In the 1970s Te Hemara was one of the founding members of Ngā Tamatoa, a Māori activist group.
[7] On 14 September 1972, Te Hemara along with Lee Smith, Rawiri Paratene and Syd Jackson[8] presented a petition of over 30,000 signatures to parliament challenging the politicians to prioritise saving Te Reo Māori.