Ākenehi Hei (c.1878–28 November 1910), sometimes called Agnes Hei, was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

district nurse and midwife in New Zealand. She was the first Māori to become a qualified nurse. Nursing during a

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

epidemic, she too caught the disease and died, while probably in her early 30s. She was born in

Te Kaha Te Kaha is a small New Zealand community situated in the Bay of Plenty near Ōpōtiki. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "the rope" for . The full name of Te Kaha is Te-Kahanui-A-Tikirākau. Te Kaha is ...

, eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

, New Zealand, probably in 1877 or 1878. She identified with the Te Whakatōhea and

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (Iwi is the Maori word for tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. She attended Te Kaha Native School, Ōpōtiki convent school, and

St Joseph's Māori Girls' College St Joseph's Māori Girls' College or Hato Hōhepa is a Catholic, integrated, boarding and day college in Taradale, New Zealand, for girls in Year 7 to Year 13. It is the largest Māori girls' boarding secondary school in New Zealand. History St ...

in Napier. She became an assistant nurse and dresser at Napier Hospital in 1901. She trained as a nurse and qualified in June 1908, being appointed a theatre sister at the hospital. Keen to become a district nurse, for which a midwifery qualification was required, she soon left for St Helens Hospital in Christchurch for midwifery training, qualifying in December 1908. After a short time in private nursing, the Department of Public Health gave her a job providing nursing to Māori during a typhoid epidemic. She worked at various places around the North Island in 1909 and 1910. While based at

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

, she also nursed at villages on the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

and was able to isolate patients in a makeshift hospital at

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. She took leave to go to Gisborne to nurse her niece who was seriously ill with typhoid in July 1910. She was soon nursing a number of typhoid patients until she too caught the disease and died in Gisborne Hospital on 28 November 1910.

References

1870s births 1910 deaths New Zealand nurses New Zealand midwives People from Te Kaha Whakatōhea people Te Whānau-ā-Apanui people New Zealand Māori midwives New Zealand Māori nurses New Zealand women nurses Deaths from typhoid fever Infectious disease deaths in New Zealand {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub