Personal details
Full Name:
- Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
Lifetime:
- ?–25 Jun 1860
Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
In the 1850s, a movement was set up to appoint a Māori king who would unite the tribes, protect land from further sales and make laws for Māori to follow. Te Wherowhero became the first Māori king in 1858.
Read more...Events In History
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25 June 1860Death of the first Māori KingThe Māori King movement came into existence in the late 1850s as an attempt to unite the tribes, prevent land sales and make laws for Māori. Pōtatau Te Wherowhero became the first Māori King in 1858, but died two years later. Read more...
Articles
Māori King movement origins
In May 2008 Māori gathered at Ngāruawāhia to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Kīngitanga, or Māori King Movement. The current king, Te Arikinui Tūheitia Paki, was crowned in August 2006 following the death of his mother, Dame Te Ātairangikaahu.
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Page 5 – Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
In April 1857, at Rangiriri, Pōtatau agreed to become king. He was crowned and anointed at Ngāruawāhia in June 1858.
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Page 6 – A challenge to European authority?
Pōtatau set a boundary separating his authority from that of the governor: 'Let Maungatautari [River] be our boundary. Do not encroach on this side. Likewise I am not to
War in Taranaki 1860-63
In March 1860 war broke out between Europeans and Māori in Taranaki following a dispute over the sale of land at Waitara. It was the beginning of a series of conflicts that would dog Taranaki for the next 21 years, claiming the lives of several hundred Maori and Europeans and leaving deep scars that persist to the present day.
- Page 2 - Pressure on Māori landAs the non-Māori population of New Zealand grew during the 1850s, Māori faced more pressure to sell their land to these new
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Main image: Potatau Te Wherowhero's pa
This 1847 George Angas painting shows Potatau Te Wherowhero's pa with Taupiri mountain in the background
