Why Is Mother Aubert Important To New Zealand?

Mother Aubert was many things to many people, but why is she so important to New Zealand and Education? She wasn’t even a New Zealander, so how was she so influential to New Zealand?
Mother Aubert was born in France in on the 19th June 1835. Her Given name was Marie Henriette Suzanne Aubert. Through the course of her life she was known by many different names, Sister Mary Joseph, Meri and Suzanne Aubert just to name a few. From a very early age Suzanne wanted to be a missionary to the pacific. Unfortunately her father forbade her to follow this path and as was the law Suzanne had to stay in his care until she was 25 years of age. During these years she trained as a nurse, these skills would serve her well in years to come.
In 1860 Suzanne
Suzanne would never see her family again. Suzanne boarded a whaler which was not equipped for passengers along with Bishop Pompallier and 25 others. During the voyage Suzanne learnt Māori, but very little English. According to (Munro, J. 1996) when Suzanne left France “she saw a future of proud indigenous mission” (p 9). So it would have been a great disappointment to her when she realised she was to teach French, embroidery along with faith to the merchant’s daughters in Auckland. In 1861 she became dissatisfied with teaching the European girls and started to ask if she could teach the Māori girls. In 1862 as (Rafter, P 1972) states “she was sent to sleep and eat with the Māoris” (p 22). I believe it was from this point in Suzanne’s life that she came into her own and started to make a
I do wonder how our education system would look today if Mother Aubert wasn’t so passionate about her work. Would the Māori be educated like they are today if she hadn’t insisted on teaching them? Would the Māori language be as widely used as it is today if she hadn’t written her book or learnt the language? What would have happened to all those poor malnourished, sick and homeless babies, children and adults? Would we as a nation embrace our native culture and would it be taught in schools if she didn’t learn it. Would we show respect this culture? Would the Māori voice be heard? Mother Aubert died in Wellington on October 1st, 1926. She was so respected in New Zealand that her funeral was “reported to be the largest funeral ever accorded a woman in New Zealand”. (Muslin, J 2018). Now in 2018 we await in anticipation to find out if Mother Aubert will be canonised and become New Zealand’s first