Life Reflections
Although Jean Duff is humble when it comes to talking about herself, her life has been anything but ordinary.
After celebrating her 90th birthday in May surrounded by about 100 friends and family at Tamatea Marae in Dunedin, Jean spent an afternoon with TE KARAKA talking about her life.
Jean’s earliest childhood memory is of the Tītī Islands. The family lived in one large room that was partitioned into living and work areas. Water came from a tank and the toilet was a long drop near the house. Although the conditions sound sparse, Jean remembers them fondly.
As a baby she was given to her father’s cousin, Robert Potiki (Ngāi Tahu) and his wife, Victoria Maraera Karetai (Ngāi Tahu) in accordance with the custom of whāngai (adoption). Her birth mother was sickly and Robert and Victoria had no children of their own. Robert worked with Jean’s birth father George Henry Bragg (Ngāi Tahu) at the sawmill in Rakiura (Stewart Island). Both families left the island when work at the sawmill dried up.
It was in Ōtākou that Jean developed strong ties to the marae. Robert and later, her husband, Witurora Duff (Ngāi Tahu) both served as chairmen of Ārai Te Uru Marae.
In 1957 Jean’s mother, Victoria died and a few months later Jean was asked to accompany her father to a function in Dunedin hosted by the Queen Mother. It was the first of many functions she would attend with her father. In 1971, they were two of only 13 people invited by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to dine on the Royal Yacht Britannia. There was one other Māori person at the table – a young girl called Kiri Te Kanawa. “I remember she sang then and sounded so beautiful,” Jean says. “It was just before she headed overseas to further her training.”
Jean encountered the royal family again in 2005 when she presented the Prince of Wales with an albatross egg during his Dunedin visit. “But I forgot to curtsey and say ‘Your Royal Highness’,” she says.
Jean’s love of whānau and whakapapa is evident in the many photos around her Musselburgh home in Dunedin, where she has lived since 1940. She has two children, Maera and Robert, four living grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
“I have always been interested in people and whakapapa. Even when I was a child, we used to go to Bluff and stay with our aunt and uncle, and I would say ‘Who is that?’ I have always wanted to know who belonged to whom and who was who.”
Jean is still guided by the strong traditional values nurtured by her Anglican parents.
“We were bought up with Māori and Pākehā values. My father felt that we needed to have the best qualities of both cultures. I was always sent to Sunday School and had to go to church every Sunday. When you go to Sunday School, school, church and to the marae there is somebody there to guide you.
“We would never put a hat or clothing on the table where you eat your food.”
When Jean was older she saw a waitress wipe a chair with the same cloth as she had used to clean the table. “We were absolutely disgusted. We got up and walked out.”
Jean’s father was strict and didn’t allow her to go out a lot. “Father said you have to make a contribution to the home by your own presence in the home. That is what makes the home.”
This was in contrast to her husband, Witurora, who was away often because of work commitments. “I stayed at home and kept the home fires burning.” This meant Jean was up at 5.30am sometimes to get the children ready and things cleaned before she went to work. She never liked to leave the house before the bench was clean and the dishes were done.
Despite spending time in hospital with pneumonia in July and having to use a walking frame, Jean remains positive and keen to take part in local Māori activities.
“I still go to the meetings. It’s a part of a life I have always known,” she says. “I went to all the tangi or anything that happened on the marae. Just by being there you are contributing.”
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December 22nd, 2011 at 11:39 am
Lovely to see your photo. I am Bill and Thelma Barretts daughter and I do remember you and uncle Wi at Karitane. May you continue to keep good health. Merry Christmas and a healthy 2012