8 Nov 2019

Te Paea Hinerangi will feature at U2 concerts in Auckland

From First Up, 5:52 am on 8 November 2019

An image of one of Aotearoa's most famous kuia, Te Pāea Hinerangi, will feature at this weekend's U2 concerts in Auckland.

also known as Te Paea and Guide Sophia

Photo: Supplied / NZ History

Te Pāea was better known as Guide Sophia and was a tourist guide at Whakarewarewa in the late19th and early 20th centuries. Her descendants were recently approached by U2 for permission to use her image during their song "Últra Violet (Light My Way)".

While the band performs their song, Te Pāea will be projected on a backdrop along with other images of influential and strong women from around the world. They include early and contemporary activists and feminists, suffragettes, women from the LGBT community and women from culture, arts and music.

Nadine Pehi is Guide Sophia Hinerangi's great great grand-daughter. She told First Up producer Jeremy Parkinson why one of the biggest bands in the world wanted her great-great grandmother in their show.