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Donna McLeod: Multi-skilled high achiever and community servant

July 10th, 2012
By David Armstrong

Donna McLeod's life takes in a full range of community and political involvement, from working with some of New Zealand's most esteemed leaders to being a respected trustee of both Motueka High School and Te Awhina Marae and being a loving grandmother.

A rarity in her era as one of only a few Maori women to do and complete university study, Donna has used her range of talents to spend time as an actor, writer, marketer of arts and crafts, social worker, political activist, teacher and - yes - loving wife and mother.

She was born in 1964 and raised in New Plymouth within an adopted family. Her loving pakeha father died when she was six, which had a "huge impact" on her. "Then I ended up with an amazing stepfather, who took on three children, a cat and a bird.

"When my mother died about 20 years ago I remember standing thanking her that we were given these two wonderful men who loved us. I had a very privileged upbringing - hugely loved and a secure environment."

Her Maori mother was an industrious and successful woman who ran a soft furnishing business with a home-based factory employing many of the wider family making curtains for New Plymouth homes during the oil and gas boom.

Her father had a love of books, antiques and Jaguar cars. "So we had had a big library and a collection of cars. I had a very comfortable upbringing."

Donna cites other influences in her pre-university days were the Presbyterian Church, where she attended Sunday School, Girls Brigade and Youth For Christ; and New Plymouth Girls School, where she had some "amazing role models, brilliant older teachers".

She had a passion for languages and performing arts, and developed a love of Shakespeare through teachers such as the legendary Ida Gaskin.

Donna grew up using Te Reo until she was five years old. She says it wasn't until she got to university that she realised that her family had "grown up Maori". But a decision was made at around five that because she was the eldest in her line, it was important that she succeeded in the pakeha world, which meant speaking only in English through her school years.

She went to Victoria University in Wellington intending to study renaissance art, though as a potential leader she had been expected and urged to do law. In the end she studied Maori to begin a BA degree, which included New Zealand history under Professor Jamie Bellich, which "blew me away".

But she found Maori hard. "I became a good example of why Maori kids fail at university," she laughs. "I just couldn't speak it. I had more French and German language skills, but I couldn't break [Maori] down into language structures to learn it.

"I began questioning myself and my upbringing. For once in my life I could learn Maori as an academic subject, rather than just a low-grade subject at school, and I just couldn't do it! It was an interesting struggle."

So she decided to become an actor. As you do. This began a few years of an amazing, almost breathtaking series of challenges and focus switches as Donna expressed the range of talents she possessed.

She got a job at the Gavett Brewster art gallery and contemporary art museum. A cast of four performed throughout Taranaki, a programme including a script they wrote telling the story of Parihaka.

While staying at Parihaka, Donna became fully aware of Maori arts and crafts. "We had weavers and artists, but there was no marketing, so when I got back to Wellington I decided not to return to university but instead to look at marketing Maori arts and crafts."

That led her into Maori International, which provided an umbrella organisation within which to work and led her into marketing work for a range of Maori organisations (including Black Power) and setting up safe houses for street kids. Getting confused yet?

"I became increasingly aware of the inequities and the race division of the country. Before that, I regarded myself as having an incredibly protected upbringing as just a middle-class New Zealander." The first impact for her was seeing the events at Bastion Point on television. "Watching it, I had such an emotional hit. I cried and cried and cried."

So she began an involvement in social justice campaigning and related political movements, including a Maori theatre and performing arts group. This was at the time, in the early/mid-80s, of the Maori political and cultural renaissance and Donna's friends then included some well-known names in Maori activism.

The performing group toured New Zealand for a couple of years, and Donna found herself involved in a "weird" mixture of performances, the arts, politics and social work. She was involved in the National Youth Council, which became the Ministry of Youth, and got to know the insides of parliament very well. "It was like my second home".

"I had this bizarre life, and it was an exciting time," she says. "I was privileged to be involved with a lot of those Treaty issues at the beginning, and to be mentored by people like Donna Awatere, Manu Bennett, Titewhai Harawera, and people like that."

But after a while, in 1986 a the age of 21, "it became, whoa, I got tired". All the travelling, sleeping on the floor, lobbying in parliament, being on committees. "It was an amazing time to be alive, with issues like nuclear free, homosexual law reform, student protest, strong unions and churches.

"I was offered the chance to go international, and I was really tired. So I met my husband, Paul Bennett (who was brought up in Ngatimoti). After a while he said to me, 'I want to have six children, and if you don't then you need to go. And I said yes." No pressure then! "He was very clear on what he wanted, and I just dropped out of everything."

They moved to Hamilton and began their family (which did reach six). Donna began teaching bicultural studies at Waikato Technical Institute, which was a required course for all students. While there, Donna became immersed in Kingitanga, and made for the first time made links with her ancestral connections, through her birth mother, in the area. She also has connections with Te Atiawa and is a direct descendent of the legendary Te Rauparaha.

The growing family moved to Eastbourne, Wellington for 10 years. It was a relatively affluent existence with very few Maori around, and Donna put a lot of energy into Plunket, Maternity Action, mothers support groups, play centre and the strong international artistic community.

Her friends had strong interests in other cultures and could see the future of a New Zealand with Maori as an integral part, and they were happy to learn about Maori culture from her. Donna also found in Eastbourne a lot of support for women to be able to do anything within the community.

After child number six arrived, Donna became very ill ("they thought I'd had a stroke"). They had holidayed in Kaiteriteri and Paul had family in the Motueka area so they decided to live here.

"The children had had this privileged and affluent upbringing in Eastbourne but we wanted them to have more, to be more rounded and to have a more rural upbringing," she says. So, 14 years ago, they moved to Motueka, to their home in Green Lane, a part of town where Paul had always wanted to live.

It was years later that Donna found out that the land had belonged to her grandfather. "It's full circle, really," she says.

Since then Donna has become fully had happily involved with this community. For seven years she taught drama part-time at the high school, and grew to appreciate the work of the teachers at the school. "The school is the hub of our community. It's a place where you see the most amazing potential."

For the past 10 years husband Paul has commuted weekly to Wellington. He spends weekends at home but has a house in the capital where their older children live while they study at university. "It's the best of both worlds for him," she says.

Their youngest child is now 14 and they have a granddaughter, who Donna is often seen with around Motueka. "For me one of the most beautiful things we can do here is bring up children and love them, and expect the best from them, and help them any way you can with any potential that they have."

The Riverside Community in Lower Moutere is also important to Donna. For about 10 years she has been writing the Matariki play with them. "The importance of Riverside to me is its Christian pacifist background, very similar to mine."

She is also writing a book on the history of Te Awhina Marae, using material provided by people with a range of stories - some controversial - to tell.

The three most important things in Donna's life now, she says, are her family, the community, and good governance of schools and community organisations. She says that governance - forming policies that satisfy legal requirements and the expectations of government and communities - is something which she understands and finds easy.

"Because of my long background in it, I find governance easier than baking a cake."

She was on the Board of Trustees (BOT) of Motueka South School for 12 years and has been on the high school board for approaching six years. She is also a trustee at Te Awhina Marae and its Hauora health service.

She is also an enthusiastic helper and organiser at the Motueka Touch Academy (touch rugby). "It's very important to me, because there I see in action the huge potential of kids. There were a group of us who saw that Motueka had an amazing ability to perform in sporting areas, particularly Maori children.

"How do you get Maori kids to achieve through school? If their strength is sport then build something around that sport and put in role models that will encourage them to stay in school."

The Touch Academy's goal is to see Motueka High School's touch win national titles. Over recent years teams have come third and fifth in New Zealand, and the girls team is currently ranked seventh.

"It's about deliberately strengthening the structures and succession. Every two years we recruit. And there's a strong Maori focus based at the Marae and the school - 50 per cent of them are of Maori descent."

She's also think about starting a new campaign, to be called "Bring back the nosy auntie" - the next door neighbour who notices that a child hasn't been going to school or is roaming the streets when they shouldn't, and dob them in. "I'm very much of the belief that it takes a community to bring up a child."

 
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