Defending their legacy

Sir Āpirana Ngata was one of those instrumental in setting up Hereheretau for the express purpose of benefiting Māori veterans from WWI. That legacy continues today but has been expanded to include veterans from WWII and other conflicts and dependents of Māori veterans.

The actual role of the trust was formalised in 1957 and one feature of this was the establishment of a Māori Soldiers Trust scholarship account. In 2021, 70 people received Sir Āpirana Ngata scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

The Soldiers Trust Comittee consists of the Minister of Māori Development and the Māori Trustee - but all other members must be, where practical, either Māori veterans or Māori who are currently serving in the armed forces.

One such person is lawyer Brigadier Lisa Ferris who heads the legal services Division of the NZ Defence Force based in Wellington. Born and raised in Gisborne and of Ngati Porou descent, she joined the army in 2003 and has held a range of positions within Defence Legal Services group.

Her role today, as a member of the Māori Soldiers Committee, is to help oversee the disbursement of scholarships - a task she enjoys. While Ferris is not directly connected with the land at Hereheretau, she has military connections going back to WWI.

"My great grandfather served in the Māori Pioneer Battalion and served at Gallipoli along with my grand uncle, who died at Chunuk Bair," she told Rural News. "My great grandather was also the recruiting officer or the 28th Māori Battalion, Charlie company and was responsible for a lot of the recruitment in the area for WWII."

Ferris is following in the footsteps of her ancestors and is quick to point out that as a lawyer in the Defence Force she is farm from desk bound. She says in the modern military the lawyer is an integral part of the deployment team because there is a lot of legal compliance and ethical standards to deal with.

"I've had a number of deployments including being on the frigate HMNZS Te Mana, which was a five month deployment to the Gulf of Oman. I was also deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq," she adds.

At the Hereheretau field day Ferris played a key role in the formal proceedings of greeting visitors to the local marae and farm. Along with staff member Paul Te Aho, Ferris was chosen to receive the medal for the farm being a finalist in the Ahuwhenua competition from Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri.

Ferris is proud of her heritage and her job. She says since signing on with the army 20 years ago, she's never looked back.