Sir Māui Piti Naera Pōmare

Sir Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare was the first Māori medical practitioner, a medical health officer and politician. Dr Pōmare was a part of the leading generation of Māori who were able to seek higher education, which was integral for his work within Māoridom during the 1800s-1900s. 

His father was Wiremu Naera Pōmare, a rangatira of Ngāti-awa and his mother was Mere Hautonga Nicoll from Ngāti Toa. Mere was the daughter of Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi (Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa), who was one of the small number of Māori women who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. She signed the treaty on behalf of her whānau as her father Te Matoha, the chief of Ngāti Toa at the time, had died just before the signing.   

Pōmare was influenced by significant events in his life, especially his father’s last words. "Go forth into the world and seek the wisdom of the Pākehā knowledge." His great-granddaughter Miria explained that this was because "the inference was that the answers to the cure of the ills confronting Māoridom at the time were embedded in Pākehā knowledge because the problems inflicted on Māori since the 1840s were introduced by the Pākehā".  

As both of his parents died while he was still young, he was raised by his grand-aunt and sent to Te Aute College in Hawke's Bay. It was believed that he was also influenced by John Thornton (principal) as he asserted the notion that the improvements for Māori would be effective if it came from a Māori perspective and thus, he placed importance on encouraging students to assume leadership positions.  

In 1889, he travelled with a group from the school into Māori communities and focused their discussions on Māori health, becoming educated and improved housing. During his schooling years, he met a member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination through which he became affiliated with the church.  

In 1899, Pōmare graduated with a medical degree from the Seventh Day Adventist Medical College in Michigan, USA. He was the first Māori to graduate in medicine from an American college. In 1901, he was appointed as a Medical Officer to Māori, a role through which he was able to save thousands of lives. In 1922, he was knighted and he became the Minister of Health a year later. 

Biographical information compiled and written by Ngaki Te Kare-Ruaine