Mihipeka-Rukuhia Anne Edwards (; 19 January 1918 â 20 May 2008) was a New Zealand writer, social worker, teacher and kaumÃÂtua (respected MÃÂori elder). Born in Maketu, Edwards was raised largely by her grandparents until their deaths when she was 16. For many years she lived under the PÃÂkehà(New Zealand European) name of Anne Davis and considered herself to be living "as a PÃÂkehÃÂ"; it was not until the 1960s that she reconnected with her MÃÂori heritage and culture. In later life she advocated for the MÃÂori language and MÃÂori culture, and taught in schools and institutions. At the age of 70 she began writing her memoirs, which were published in three volumes.
Edwards was born in Maketu on 19 January 1918. Her mother died three weeks after she was born during the influenza pandemic that year. She was descended from the iwi (tribes) of Te Arawa, Waikato, NgÃÂti Raukawa and NgÃÂti Maniapoto. She had a PÃÂkehÃÂ (New Zealand European) grandfather and her great-grandfather was William Fitzherbert. Her father was a flax worker, and she was looked after by her older sisters until she was five and sent to live in Manakau under the care of her grandmother and step-grandfather. She learned to speak English after starting school at age six, and after having been punished for speaking MÃÂori. Her grandparents died when she was 16.
Rejecting family plans for her marriage, she moved to à Âtaki and subsequently to Palmerston North where she worked as a domestic worker. Due to discrimination against MÃÂori at the time, she began living under the PÃÂkehàname of Anne in order to make it easier to get work and accommodation. She would later write: "Mihipeka, my real name. My Maori name given to me at birth, a name to be carried on. I am supposed to be proud of it. Instead I hate it, because Pakeha people used to tease me about it."
Edwards moved to Wellington before the outset of World War II, where she joined the NgÃÂti PÃ Âneke club. A short marriage around this time ended when her husband left for the war. During the war she worked as a munitions worker, making army uniforms and in various hospital and factory roles. In 1950, she married Locksley Edwards, a mechanic in the air force, and they had three children. During their marriage she became a qualified early childhood educator, and established a childcare centre. Despite her membership of NgÃÂti PÃ Âneke, she described herself in later life as having lived as a PÃÂkehÃÂ for three decades, having learned to hide her MÃÂori identity.
Edwards returned to her MÃÂori heritage in the 1960s through working with the MÃÂori Battalion Welfare Fund. In the 1970s and 1980s, she helped establish a MÃÂori cultural club, became a kà Âhanga reo teacher and contributed to church and cultural groups including by serving on the advisory board of The Salvation Army. She campaigned in particular against the abuse of alcohol, and in 1975, participated in the MÃÂori land march. She promoted and introduced the teaching of the MÃÂori language and traditions in various institutions including the Department of Health, and taught in various schools and at Victoria University of Wellington. In the 1990s she acted as a kaumÃÂtua for the Family Planning Association.
In 1988, at the age of 70, Edwards began writing the first volume of her memoirs, retelling her life from childhood to World War II. It was published as Mihipeka: Early Years in 1990. The sequel, Mihipeka: Time of Turmoil, was published in 1992. Together these books sold over 12,000 copies, and extracts from the first volume were recorded by Tungia Baker and aired on Radio New Zealand. Mary Varnham, publisher, names the first as her favourite New Zealand book, and reviewer David Verran for the Sunday Star-Times noted that it contained "positive down-to-earth teachings about Maori traditions, customs and spirituality", in addition to recording Edwards' difficult early life experiences. It opens:
Edwards completed her memoirs with her third book, Mihipeka, Call of an Elder, Karanga a te Kuia, published in 2002. Verran noted that it was in less of a straightforward narrative style than her earlier books, and at its best when "continuing the story of her involvement with kà Âhanga reo, recognising the limits of old age and discussing her development as a kaumÃÂtua, an authority in the rituals of the karanga and an author". Edwards died on 20 May 2008 and was buried near her Te Arawa grandfather's grave at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in NgongotahÃÂ.