The Board recently had the Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko I Te Ora | Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL) brooch repaired. The clasp was loose and the safety chain was broken, and therefore in danger of being lost when worn. As a tohu – a symbol – of the long-standing relationship between the MWWL and NCWNZ, this was a risk the Board did not want to take. Thank you to Jubilee Jewellers in Wellington for doing this work.

Dorothy Page’s Centennial History of NCWNZ tells the story of this relationship in its early days. The MWWL held its first conference in 1951, and the NCWNZ President Flora Forde attended. Subsequently the NCWNZ President Rachel Cumberbeach attended the 1955 conference, and the MWWL President, Dame Whina Cooper ONZ DBE, attended the NCWNZ conference in that same year. It was at that 1955 NCWNZ conference that President Cooper presented the silver-mounted pounamu brooch as a tohu of the relationship between our organisations.

This brooch is still passed from President to President to be cared for during her term of office.

To read more articles from The Circular (March-April 2026) issue 656, click on the tag below.