Meri – The Wonder(ful) Woman of NZ

Tu Tangata, Issue 24, 1 June 1985, Page 30

Meri - The Wonder(ful) Woman of NZ

by Michael Romanos

Time has not altered the 1926 proclamation that Marie Henriette Suzanne Aubert/Mother Mary Joseph Aubert or just plain (Sister) Meri to the Maori people, was New Zealand’s greatest woman. This accolade came on Mother Aubert’s death in that year.

This amazing tiny Catholic nun whose compassion, humour, big heart, steely determination and boundless energy compares well with Mother Therese of Calcutta, is considered by some as the pioneer and champion of Maori education and New Zealand social services. Her fame spread beyond the little mission she helped re-establish at Hiruharama (Jerusalem) alongside the Wanganui River. For she was foundress of the Homes of Compassion, an order which was based in Wellington and spread throughout Australasia and Fiji. It wasn’t just through her love and devotion for the Maori people and the abandoned, orphaned and handicapped children that installed her in the history books of this nation. It was also for the herbal remedies, largely of Maori character and origin, she successfully dispensed throughout Australasia.

Suzanne Aubert (pronounced O’Bare) was born at St Symphorien De Lay village in France in 1835 of influential parents. Her father was president of the Chamber of Bailiffs in Lyons and her mother was Dame Claire Perier. As a pointer to her patience, love and understanding of the handicapped and incurable (in times when the afflicted were often regarded with contempt), Suzanne herself suffered as a child. An accident at the age of two left her with crippled limbs and a damaged eye. Somehow she recovered both physically and mentally by the age of 10 with just a slight cast in her left eye as a reminder.

Suzanne Aubert arrived in New Zealand in 1860 as a 25 year old knowing nothing of english but determined to dedicate her life to the Maori people. The Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Pompallier had told Aubert, “If you will not love my Maoris, go back. I brought you specially for them.” Along with three other nuns in Auckland, Aubert became the foundation members of this country’s first teaching order, called Congregation of the Holy Family. Suzanne took the name Sister Mary Joseph.

She persevered with acquiring knowledge of the Maori tongue and culture and she set up a school for the education of Maori girls. She eventually became fluent in Maori and learnt the traditions. Her teaching methods and results were generously praised and considered unique.

But the project was doomed through financial, ill-health and diocesen problems. The order was disbanded. Sister Mary Joseph continued to support the Maori children under her care and the small boarding school for Maori girls she had established, by giving tuition in French and music in the evenings until the arrival in 1870 of a new Bishop to Auckland. The Bishop refused to support Aubert. He mistrusted her intentions and wanted to integrate the Maori girls with the Europeans. The strong-willed Aubert was defiant. She returned dona-

tions given to her to rebuild the Maori orphanage, removed her religious habit and told the Bishop she would take no further directives from him.

A year later, Suzanne Aubert shifted to Meeanee (near Napier) at the invitation of the Marist Fathers to take charge of their Maori school.

Aubert began her research and experimentation into Maori herbal medicines and remedies at Meeanee. Whilst in Auckland she had travelled to Maori villages as part of her visitations to the homes of children she was taking care of. During these times she became conversant with the use of Maori medicines.

In France, Aubert had completed a full course of lectures in the science of botany and medicine and no doubt touched on chemistry. As a woman, she could not be admitted to the French Universities but attended the courses in a separate wing of the lecture hall.

The busy Aubert assumed the role of district nurse and Maori missioner, as much as teacher in the Hawkes Bay especially when the land wars led to Maori mistrust of pakehas. She was able to win the hearts and ears of the Maoris when no one else could.

She also developed her famous EuroMaori herbal medicines to a degree nothing short of genius. With her private collection of medicines and ointments, Aubert cured many people of all kinds of ailments.

For instance, she cured a Maori woman of leprosy by giving her a course of arsenic and eucalyptus internally. The mayor of Hastings at the time, Dr Spencer, published her treatment in medical journals.

On another occasion, a little girl had severe burns to her hand and arm and Aubert dressed the arm with her quince jelly. The doctors at Napier hospital wanted to amputate the arm but Aubert would have nothing of it and grabbed the child out of their clutches. After more treatment and prayers, the

youngster’s arm healed, growing a new skin within seven weeks. Among many testimonials sent to Aubert by prominent Maoris who had been administered with the Aubert remedies are: ‘‘Meri, Salutations to thee, the doctor of doctors. I send thee my child and wife who are very ill. If thou cannot cure them nobody can.” (Signed) Renato Kawepo, Chief of Omahu. “Meri, Long life to thee. Thou hast saved my child's life when it was almost gone. Come and save also my wife. No one can die under thy care.” (Signed) Paora Kaiwhata, Chief of Moteo. “Meri, Salutations to thee our mother, the mother of everybody. We are all crying after thee. So many amongst us are ailing and die. Come back to thy children that they should live or at least send us some of thy medicines.” (Signed) Ngarati. “Meri, I salute thee. Come and see me before I am gathered to my ancestors. Come, thou who has the eyes of the departed, the heart of those we love, thou who hast saved the life of so

many who were already shrouded in death. Let me see thee and rejoice.” (Signed) Hoani Tokotiko, Chief of the Te Karaka. During these years, Aubert compiled a comprehensive Maori-French dictionary and a new edition of the Maori prayer book. A little later she compiled a manual of Maori conversation which was well recommended by Maori scholars. Aubert took her concentrated remedies and dispensary with her to Jerusalem in 1883. She was asked by Archbishop Redwood of Wellington to help revive the Catholic mission at Jerusalem. The beginnings of Christianity on the Wanganui river go back to the 1830’s under the leadership of Wiremu Te Tauri from Taupo. The first European missionaries were led by the Reverend Richard Taylor who gave many of the villages biblical names such as Atene (Athens), Koriniti (Corinth) and Hiruharama (Jerusalem). The Hau Hau uprising killed and devastated various missions in the region in 1864, and it wasn’t until Chief Tai Whati pleaded with Bishop Redwood to re-establish the mission and school at Jerusalem that action was taken. A new priest arrived from France,. Father Christopher Soulas and he was despatched to Aubert at Meeanee to learn the Maori language. Soulas (called Hoani Papita, i.e. John the Baptist, by the Maoris) needed assistance in Jerusalem and the now 48 year old Sister Meri was appointed Superior of the Sisters of Mary giving her the task to receive postulants (novices) for training and supervision at Jerusalem. Aubert persisted with her herbal remedies. It was necessary to sell the medicines in order to fund the mission which had grown to include foundlings, orphans and handicapped children of all races, and caring for the chronic sick.

The original St Joseph’s Church, described as a ‘‘perfect little gothic gem” was built almost entirely by the Maori people. It was destroyed by fire after only three years and as it was set alight by a pakeha, the Maoris refused to rebuild it and instead built another church at Ranana.

‘‘The pakeha burned the church down, let the pakeha build another one,” they said.

A fine new church at Jerusalem was completed in 1892 largely from funds collected by Sister Meri. It’s understood there was a Maori hand or two in its construction.

Urged to market her remedies, Aubert relented and engaged the firm of Kempthorne and Prosser to market ‘‘Mother Mary Joseph Aubert’s herbal products”. The marketing started in 1890 New Zealand-wide and extended to include Australia.

Interestingly, it was subsequently discovered that drug marketers, Kempthorne and Prosser were diluting Aubert’s medicines and an angry Aubert successfully sued the company and changed her distributors to Sharland and Company.

Aubert gave the commercially sold remedies Maori titles. They included: Wanena lotion or ointment (for cuts and bruises), Marupa (for coughs and colds), Paramo (for liver compalints), Karana (for the digestive system), Kekako Plasters (for lumbago and chest pains), Hapete Ointment (for boils, warts, tumours etc), Romino Ointment (for sprains, rheumatism, stiffness).

By 1894, the retail prices for these products ranged in price from one shilling and sixpence (15 cents) to two shillings and sixpence (25 cents). The remedies were highly commended by Maori chiefs, Governor Generals, Bishops, doctors and other dignatories.

The effectiveness of the remedies is unquestioned. Perhaps they were the most potent of their kind in the world. Maybe they still would be if they were available. At one time, Mother Aubert was keen to export her products to Europe and she corresponded with contacts in France as the following letter signifies. Dated 1890, the letter was sent to Monsieur Lostalot de Bachouee. ‘‘Dear Sir, I am delighted to send you a small box containing some of the medicines of which I was speaking to you. I shall send to you others later, as it is impossible for me to prepare them now, through lack of time and because of excessive weariness, for I can scarcely drag myself around. You will find Karana, which Mr Larochette who is a chemist of the first

class and of the University of Paris, considered is superior to Quinquina in the treatment of chronic stomach sickness. It has been useful to me in cases of anaemia, of adebility, of continuous diarrhoea etc, etc and in recovery from temperatures. Marupa is excellent for chest and bronchial troubles. The Paramo is for liver troubles as an alternative and a laxative. The Natanata I have found is unrivalled in the treatment of chronic illness of the stomach and especially among children, even those who are being breast fed and also among old men. Many children have been abandoned by doctors and, dying from diarrhoea and from continuous vomiting, have been restored to perfect health in two or three weeks by the use of Natanata. The Eucalyptus is an antifebrifuge. It has been most successful in throat illnesses (the diphtheria of the English) and even, most truthfully, I found it completely successful in a case of authenticated leprosy, also in many cases of broncial infection.” (Note: this letter is abridged). It’s believed the church stepped in to stop Aubert’s activities from becoming too commercial on a broad sense. However, from 1895 the entire Aubert remedial medicine industry started to drawback because her own direction was changing in the way she wanted to help people. The medicine process was time consuming and involved day and night maintenance for upwards of six workers who helped in tending and growing the plants, drying of the herbs, mixing of the formulae and bottling and freighting. All this was carried out under the painstaking guidance of Mother Aubert. Perhaps the success of Mother Mary Joseph Aubert’s Maori remedies also had a spiritual base. People believed in

her goodness and holiness. Realising the limitations of an isolated area like Jerusalem for her caring of the children and chronic sick, Aubert took up the challenge to extend her work to Wellington.

Now Mother Superior of her own order, the Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion, the imperturbable nun arrived in the Capital before the turn of the century and from absolute humble beginnings founded the Home of Compassion at Island Bay.

Street begging by Aubert and her group helped build between 1900 and 1902 a home for the incurables, a soup kitchen for the unemployed, creches for baby daytime care (a first in New Zealand) and finally in 1907, the Home of Compassion.

The Home was initially a place for child care, then it was enlarged to include chronically sick women, and finally a full general hospital and training school.

In 1913 Mother Aubert was criticised by a section of the church hierarcy in New Zealand for her caring of foundlings (illegitimate babies and children). The 79 year old nun again angered by a narrow view, went above the reigning Archbishop of Wellington and took off to Rome to seek the approval of the Pope for her work. The Pope showered praise on Aubert giving her full permission to carry on as she saw fit.

Today, there are 12 Homes of Compassion spread over New Zealand, Australia and Fiji carrying out varied work, like caring for the chronically ill, district nursing, care of socially handicapped children, a day care, a relief centre, primary schools, dispensaries, sick visiting on mission stations, care of physically handicapped girls and a general hospital.

Suzanne Aubert lived in New Zealand for 67 of her 92 years. She died in 1926 and her funeral in Wellington was one of the largest held in New Zealand. The Sisters of our Lady of Compassion who celebrate their centenary in 1992, are hoping that their foundress will be canonised by the Pope that is, recognised by the church as a Saint.

Current Secretary-General of the order, Sister Bernadette Mary says of Aubert,” she had great faith and love of God, which filtered through to her love and respect for the poor and the unfortunate. She had a special rapport with children especially if they were afflicted.

“One of the things she said was, ‘always have a place in your heart and home for the Maoris.’

“She saw Maoris dying through Euro-pean-imported diseases and through the land wars. To Mother Mary Aubert, Maoris were not getting a fair deal.

“Some would say, Maoris are not getting a fair deal today either. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for such a

firm bond being established between the Sisters of Compassion and the Maori community.”

When she died, Sister Meri took her pharmacopoeia receipts and research notes with her. Apparently she did not leave behind written notes on the remedies. Only she knew the full formulae. The archives at the Island Bay Home of Compassion still have in their possession quantities of Wanena, Paramo, Karana and Natanata.

Mother Aubert was convinced that though education was needed by the Maoris, it must be brought to them, not they to it.

“Let the Maori keep their culture,” she said.

“Aid them to preserve their good qualities, and their customs so far as they are good for the benefit of their race. Christianise them, educate them too, but do not aim to make a secondrate European out of them. Be sure to let them stay Maori.”

A New Zealand poet, Eileen Duggan paid this tribute to Mother Aubert.

“She saw in each of these a Christ grown old, A Christ with battered soles and ragged sleeves, A Christ with withered hands, a crippled Christ, A Christ that all the world rejects and grieves. She had the biggest heart this country knew, And when I add, the straightest, all is told A blinding candour in the eye and tongue, Mirth like a Tui’s chuckling into gold. And when God walks His rounds at eventide On the New Zealand side, and comes on them She will have still her brood beneath her wings As he once yearned to hold Jerusalem.