Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery

Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery starts with idyllic memories of Ngāhuia’s childhood in Ōhinemutu in Rotorua. We are introduced to her Kuia, her mother and we learn about her whāngai, from there she delves into a small part of her life growing up.

She shows how courageous she was to go to university without her family support and once there how she had to always prove herself. She shows how courageous she was to openly say that she was attracted to women and attended rallies to make meaningful change for the LGBTQI+ community. She shows how courageous she was to join Ngā Tamatoa and advocate for Māori rights. She is an inspirational person who despite what has happened to her throughout her life is still a changemaker.

Like most biographies, in the middle of the book there are a series of pictures to visually capture Ngāhuia’s life. These add an extra dimension to the biography and allow the reader to further immerse themselves into the details of her life. The writing at times is very detailed and vivid and in other parts you have to read between the lines to fully understand the meaning, which can be a bit frustrating. The biography seems to abruptly end with Ngāhuia the victim of a racist attempted shooting, and a rushed epilogue.

Ngāhuia has led a memorable life. What stood out was her love of literature and learning and you see this through her writing style. This piece opens your eyes to the realities and challenges of what it was like growing up Māori in the 1950s-70s.

Advisory warning: alludes to sexual violence multiple times throughout.