Career
Of Māori and Moriori descent, she identified with the Ngati Mamoe iwi. She was born in Ruapuke Island, Southland, New Zealand in 1870. Her first husband was Riwai Te Ropiha, a Moriori of the Chatham Islands, with whom she had nine children.
Her second husband was Te Ao Ahitana Matenga (Joseph Ashton) of Ngāti Kahungunu, with whom she had one child, Joey Ashton.
