A last farewell to a lifetime of welcomes
kuia, tikanga and te reo Maori advocate b June 4, 1935 d July 26, 2019
June Te Raumange Jackson spent her life making others feel welcome, whether they be recent citizens or foreign heads of state. Known by many as ‘‘Aunty June’’, Jackson served as kuia alongside her husband, Sam, for decades to numerous government organisations, including district health boards, Wellington City Council, Te Papa, and Fire & Emergency NZ.
The couple regularly conducted ceremonies at the Wellington region’s councils and at many government departments, and also blessed schools, kohanga reo and childcare centres.
June also offered cultural support to the negotiators during the settlement process for the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust.
Many of those who gathered to farewell June at Pipitea Marae in central Wellington on Thursday wore a plume of white Raukura feathers, a symbol among June’s native Taranaki iwi of harmony and unity, and often worn to remember peaceful efforts to elevate and unify the mana of the Ma¯ ori people.
It was a symbol of a togetherness that many said June lived her life in service of.
Born in 1935 in Pukekohe, the daughter of Jean Tinirongoa Whine Rueke Te Kahui and Patrick Coffey, Jackson was taken into state care and fostered out at a young age.
‘‘On more than one occasion she ran away,’’ her son, Peter Jackson, told those gathered at the marae.
Eventually she went to live with her aunties in the Bay of Plenty, before enrolling at Kurahuna Ma¯ ori Girls’ Boarding School in Auckland as a teenager.
After graduating, she returned to Taranaki, where she became a nurse’s aide at Taranaki Base Hospital.
In the 1950s Jackson moved to Wellington and worked at the ICI Zip Factory and Treasury Imprest Section.
It was in the capital that she met Sam Jackson, a wharf worker and later the kaumata to her kuia. The two were married for more than 50 years.
They became features on the dance floor of the Wellington ball circuit and could often be found casting nets for whitebait on the weekends.
The two had a shared understanding of what a dysfunctional home life felt like, and raised their own children, Sharon and Peter, in stark contrast to their own upbringing. Peter Jackson said of his parents, ‘‘They decided that they would raise their family in a different way to what they experienced.’’
The Jacksons were jointly awarded the insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community in 2010, in recognition of their significant contribution to the growth and understanding of tikanga Ma¯ ori
and te reo Ma¯ ori.
Palmerston North Ma¯ ori Reserve chair Liz Mellish said the Jacksons were ‘‘people of joy’’.
‘‘She led by example, and taught me what happens when you have a good marriage and a strong relationship.’’
Sam Jackson, who died in 2013, said at the time of their award, ‘‘June is a kuia. A kaumata is never fully complete unless he has a kuia with him.’’
Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley District Health Boards chief executive Fionnagh Dougan was accompanied by June at welcome events, including a mihi whakatau (speech of welcome) earlier this month. June’s presence was hugely supportive.
‘‘I was very aware that I was being supported by somebody quite extraordinary during this time.’’
Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace said Jackson had rubbed shoulders with ‘‘kings, queens, foreign dignitaries, and heads of state’’ during her time as a kuia, and yet remained a humble, strong and compassionate woman.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said Jackson had welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Wellington in October last year.
At many Waitangi Day commemoration ceremonies, she would say a karakia for the stallholders and welcome the public and diplomats from the stage with karanga and mihi whakatau. Jackson would then head to her kai stall to make para¯ oa parai (fried bread) and whitebait fritters.
‘‘June was an absolute pillar of Wellington. She spent much of her life helping the Wellington community understand her mana whenua Ma¯ ori tribal traditions,’’ Lester said.
June Jackson won an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award in 2017.
Her last years were spent at the Village in the Park retirement village in Berhampore, from where she often caught the bus to play cards at the Petone Workingmen’s Club.
June Jackson is survived by her children, as well as six mokopuna and five mokopuna nui.