Mere Harper

She was the main informant for ethnographer William Anderson Taylor's work on Kāi Tahu history, and is credited as one of the midwives who paved the way for the creation of the Plunket Society of New Zealand.

Originally from Arowhenua, she probably came to Puketeraki for shelter during the 1830s war with Ngāti Toa, and became known there as a "very honest" woman trusted with unlimited credit at the local store.

On 18 July 1848, at age 6, Mere was baptised in the Wesleyan Mission church as "Mary Apes", while her mother was christened Caroline.

[1] Like her father, Mere was large (reportedly six feet high and weighing 16 stone) and strong, and was nicknamed Big Mary.

She earned money as a porter, meeting boats from ships arriving at Waikouaiti and carrying passengers ashore on her back.

[1] She and her brother Tamati were interviewed by Herries Beattie between 1900 and 1920, and she provided information on Māori house types and construction to Harry Skinner.

The conversations Taylor had with Mere and her circle about placenames and history inevitably raised the issue of the Kāi Tahu land grievances, and these injustices drew his interest and concern.

She worked for half a century with Ria Tikini, thirty years older than her, to help with health issues in their community and deliver generations of children.

She also was neighbours and friends with doctor Truby King, often peeling potatoes from his garden and baking them on hot embers while they discussed the health of families in the area.

The Karitāne Home for Babies opened within a year,[5] and, with the aid of the extensive networks established by Mere and Ria, as well as their decades of experience and the traditional knowledge they held, soon developed into the Plunket Society.

Taylor wrote several newspaper articles in the 1930s and 1940s drawing on the information she provided, and published Lore and History of the South Island Maori in 1952.

An interpretive panel overlooking the Waikouaiti River was updated as a result,[1] and in 2020, Plunket rebranded its logo to acknowledge its founding Māori midwives.