Mrs Keata Nikora

Te Ao Hou, March 1966, Page 63

Mrs Keata Nikora Mrs Keata Nikora of Manutuke, near Gisborne, died last November in her 101st year. Mrs Nikora spent most of her life in the Manutuke district. A strong adherent of the Church of England, she was associated with the first church in the pastorate and had vivid memories of the first missionaries on the East Coast, particularly of Bishop William Williams and his son Leonard. She also remembered the standing forests at Manutuke which surrounded the fields of wheat, and recalled reaping the wheat by sickle, threshing it with manuka flails, and hand-winnowing the grain. A member of the Rongowhakaata tribe, Mrs Nikora was the daughter of Wiremu Kauae (later known as Wiremu Tooke) and Harriet O'Brien (Harete Paraine). She married Mr Huruhuia Nikora at Manutuke. Remarkably active and alert, Mrs Nikora retained good sight and hearing until the last, and had an excellent memory of past events. Predeceased by her husband in 1951, she is survived by two sons, Messrs M. P. Nikora and K. Nikora, and one daughter, Mrs Hiraina Nukunuku.