Kura Hapairangi Wehipeihana was in charge of the typing pool at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in our earliest days. The typists’ challenge was to copy-type thousands of pages of te reo that had been handwritten and typewritten, much of it very old.
One of those typists, who returned to work with us recently, remembers Kura as someone who “didn’t accept slackers. She told us that what we were doing was important and we were lucky to be here. Only one of us spoke te reo but it didn’t matter. We had to type exactly what we were reading. She would check our work meticulously. Hundreds and hundreds, thousands of pages.”
Kura Wehipana, pictured in the white suit, leading the typing pool at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington | Wellington City | 1980-89 | Māori Language Commission established | Story is by tangata whenua
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