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Over a century ago, a Māori woman departed from her profession as a tour guide and performer in Aotearoa and traveled to Britain, where she would soon make history by registering at the University of Oxford.

In a tragic turn, Mākereti Papakura – believed to be the initial woman from an native community to study at the university – passed away just weeks before completing her thesis, and in the decades since, her relatives has fought to have her degree recognised.

Last week, that recognition was awarded. In front of more than 100 kin and tribal members who travelled to the university to witness the ceremony, Papakura was after her death granted an MPhil in anthropology for her work recording the life, language and traditions of her Arawa people.

Papakura’s relative, Grant, was emotional as she received the diploma from the university’s vice-chancellor.

“It was very surreal. I had to collect myself because I became tearful and wished to avoid sobbing on TV,” she remarked.

Watching a live broadcast from the nearby museum of natural history, dozens of her relatives began a powerful traditional dance as a mark of honour.

Born in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty in 1873, Papakura was raised during a period of major transformation for the Māori people, including the swift decline of territory, dialect and traditional wisdom as the grip of colonial rule intensified.

She was brought up by her seniors from Tūhourangi and Ngāti Wahiao, around the hot springs village of Whakarewarewa. The village is near the town of the geothermal hub, known for its hot mud pools, warm waterways, and water spouts that gush from the Earth’s crust.

It was while serving as a guide near Rotorua that she gained notice during a visit by royalty in 1901, and subsequently became a figure, appearing on a variety of souvenir cards and in photo sessions.

Ten years after, Papakura ventured to the UK with a cultural troupe that collapsed financially, with several of the participants staying to work or wed residents.

She returned to Rotorua only briefly before wedding a wealthy Englishman, Richard Staples-Browne. She moved to the county where she registered at the college and became friends with the researcher TK Penniman.

In tight cursive, she spent years documenting her comprehensive understanding of lineage, histories, speech and practices on thousands of pages of notepaper, preserving the ancient customs of the Arawa tribe.

Remarkably for the time, it was a detailed study about Indigenous people, by an native woman.

But Papakura died in 1930, aged 56, just three weeks before her thesis was scheduled.

Penniman would later release the work as a volume, The Old Time Māori, which her descendants state is as significant now as always. Grant said it has been utilized by the Māori attempting to restore their language and heritage, even demonstrating useful in land dispute cases.

“We discovered a great deal of details about our lands in the community. Every caves and the geysers,” she said. For nearly a hundred years, the fact she was not granted her degree proved something of a painful issue.

“Almost a century, what caused the delay?” Grant asked. “We have been patiently and patiently sharing her story.”

At a gathering with the family among the displays at Oxford’s anthropology museum on the weekend, the vice-chancellor, Prof Irene Tracey, stated it was an honour to at last recognise Papakura’s impact as a academic.

“I could not think of a individual – globally, historically – more deserving of that recognition,” she commented. “At a time when so few women attended Oxford, so few women pursued higher education.”

The delegation of Te Arawa devoted almost a seven days in the United Kingdom, attending a range of events, shows and other activities.

An elder, who was among the delegation, expressed a feeling of “amazement”. “It’s existed for nine centuries and I’m told this is among the initial times they’ve granted a posthumous degree. It’s an incredible thing for our whānau to be proud of.”

A segment of the delegation’s visit featured gifting a two-metre sculpture, or post, intricately chiselled into a slab of tōtara wood.

Papakura and her concert party brought the carving to England in 1911, during their initial visit.

“They used the whakairo as a backdrop behind and they would act in front of it,” said Rika, a sculptor who is additionally a relation of Papakura.

It remained in the United Kingdom, changing several possessors and purposes – such as as a work bench – before falling into a state of disrepair, Rika explained. Last week, after meticulous restoration by Rika, Te Arawa gave the pou again to the people of Britain at the London office of the cultural organization, where it will go on display.

“This was the rejoining of the pou, or a people, and renewing Papakura's legacy to showcase our heritage to the world,” he concluded.