Overview
The Evergreen Coffee House was a home away from home for many people. It was a safe and accepting meeting place for anyone who needed it especially Wellington’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, homeless youth, and sex workers who needed support late at night. But the apartment above the coffee bar was a discreet private place and home to Chrissy Witoko, the Evergreen’s transgender owner and maître d'. Chrissy’s open, welcoming attitude had a profound and lasting impact on the young people who lived with her. The following childhood memories of “Aunty Chris” and the Evergreen are kindly shared by Chrissy’s niece and nephew, Mischellè Tohu and Richard (Rihari) Tohu.
Playing dress ups - Mischellè
One of Mischellè Tohu’s favourite childhood pastimes was to dress up in her Aunt Chris’s collection of elegant shiny hats, glittery dresses, jewellery and high stiletto shoes. She and her cousins would wait until Chrissy left the house to then try on all her special outfits ‘and pretend we’re in the fairy tale books’.
Mischellè was brought up by her grandmother Millie Witoko and her much stricter Aunty Chris. She spent the first five years of her life in the house above the Evergreen, and every school holidays thereafter, and says ‘the happiest years of my life were the years I spent at the Evergreen.’ Chrissy was hugely respected in the community, but to Mischellè she was her Aunty, ‘the one who along with my Nan, dressed me, fed me, made sure I was happy and safe … Aunty Chris was very nurturing but she was also the one you never wanted to get on the bad side of’.
To Mischellè, the Evergreen was ‘the most beautiful and interesting home’. One half of the apartment was an everyday living space, where Mischellè and her cousins would ‘make a mess, do the washing, cook our kai and where we would sleep.’ The other living area was beautifully decorated, with a beautiful glass table supported by large crystal glass orbs, a black bearskin rug, coloured stained glass windows and large indoor flowers. The lounge also housed Chrissy’s beautiful throne, a gift from former Dominion Tavern owners Larry and Janiel Phillips on her 50th birthday as she was crowned ‘Queen Christine of Wellington’.
A key and a black Lamborghini - Richard
Richard Tohu loved staying at his Aunty Chris’s house, and was given his first job aged 12 years old working downstairs in his Aunt’s café washing the windows. When he was younger, he recalled ‘trying to sleep upstairs while the music was pumping all night then getting up in the morning with my cousins and seeing how many coins we could find in the seats in the cafe.’
When Richard turned 13 he was sent to boarding school. Chrissy held a fancy dinner for him above the Evergreen and gave him a key to the Evergreen. To Richard, the key was a rare and prized object, as Chrissy ‘never gave many people a key to the place let alone a kid; I wore that key around my neck everyday’.
Richard was given another gift from Chrissy: a hard cover poster of a black Lamborghini which used to hang on the wall at the Evergreen. The poster had captivated Richard all his life and when his Aunt gave it to him she said ‘I want you to have this and one day I want you to own your dream car no matter what it is but I want this poster to be your goal so you never forget…’ Richard says that its ‘because of her [Chrissy] I have my dream car and I am who I am.’
A role model
Both Mischellè and Richard emphasise that spending time with Chrissy at the Evergreen gave them many precious memories and taught them important life lessons.
While working at the Evergreen, Richard was finally allowed to sit in the café while it was open. He would watch his mum, dad, cousins and sisters working behind the bar, and met all the different customers of the Evergreen. Meeting those people has had a big impact on how Richard treats people today: ‘my Aunty never judged anyone and because of her and her friends I'm a strong believer in not judging people.’
It wasn’t until Mischellè was older that she realised the real significance of her Aunty’s work in the local community.
‘Although I spent most of my childhood at the Evergreen I never really understood what went on downstairs, I always just thought, ‘that’s my Aunty and my Nan’s job at night and in the day they look after me.’ It wasn’t until my teenage years that I understood how many types of colourful people my Aunty looked after, from queens, working girls, politicians, activists, gang members, troubled teens and many, many more.’
At Chrissy’s tangi, her nieces and nephews were allowed to each choose one of Chrissy’s favourite hats from those placed around her coffin. Mischell missed out on a hat, but instead carries with her Chrissy’s teachings.
‘I will always hold on to the strength she taught me, ambition and the will to never ever give up on your dreams and always look after other people because you never ever know what they're going through at the time.’
Te Papa works in collaboration with LGBTI communities and individuals to discover the histories represented in the panels. If you have any information you would like to share in relation to the panels please contact a history curator at Te Papa on +64 (0)4 381 7000.