Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino IV

Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino IV, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, was born in the 1820s on the shores of Lake Taupō. He became a supporter of the King Movement in the 1850s.

In 1862 he succeeded his uncle, Iwikau, as paramount chief of Ngati Tūwharetoa. In 1863 Grey ordered the invasion of the Waikato. Te Heuheu honoured a promise his uncle had made to the Māori King, and led a war party to assist the Waikato tribes.

After the Waikato defeat he returned to Taupō. He was later suspected of supporting Te Kooti, but claimed that he had been taken prisoner. Because of Te Heuheu’s political influence the government did not investigate this matter too closely, or confiscate any Ngāti Tūwharetoa land.

In 1882 Ngāti Tūwharetoa placed much of their land within the Rohe Pōtae (King Country). They hoped to prevent European settlers advancing, and to support the King movement. But in 1885 Te Heuheu broke ranks with the Kīngitanga and invited the Native Land Court into the district.

At one Land Court hearing, Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, the Muaūpoko/Ngāti Apa/Wanganui chief who had fought against Te Kooti, claimed rights to southern Taupō through conquest. When he claimed that his fires of occupation had burned on the land, Te Heuheu famously pointed to the smoking peak of Mount Tongariro (the iconic maunga, or mountain of Ngāti Tūwharetoa), saying "There is my fire". The land was awarded to Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

During these hearings Te Heuheu, encouraged by Native Minister John Ballance, decided that the best way to preserve his sacred mountains - Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu - was to transfer them to the Crown. They would become the nation’s first national park. This was duly done, although some of his fellow chiefs opposed it. Te Heuheu died in 1888.

Adapted from the DNZB biography by Steven Oliver

• Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies

Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino IV

I whānau mai a Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino i te tekau tau atu i 1820 ki ngā tahatika o te moana o Taupō. Ko Ngāti Tūwharetoa tōna iwi. I te tekau tau atu i 1850 ka pūmau tana tautoko i te Kīngitanga.

I te tau 1862 ka mate tōna matua kēkē, a Iwikau, ka ara ko Horonuku hei ariki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa. I te tau 1863 ka whakahau a Kerei kia urutomokia te riu ki Waikato. Ko te aranga ake tērā o Te Heuheu ki te whakatutuki i te kupu taurangi a Iwikau ki te Kīngi Māori. Nāna i ārahi te ope taua o te iwi i haere ki te āwhina i ngā iwi o Waikato.

Ka hinga a Waikato, ko te hokinga tērā o Te Heuheu ki tōna kāinga. Nō muri ka rere ngā whakapae mōna he haumi nā Te Kooti, heoi, ko tāna, nā Te Kooti kē a ia i kahaki. Nā tana awe i te ao tōrangapū kāore te kāwanatanga i āta tirotiro i tēnei whakapae, ā, kāore hoki he whenua o Ngāti Tūwharetoa i raupatutia.

I te tau 1882 ka tukua e Ngāti Tūwharetoa ōna whenua ki te Rohe Pōtae, i runga i te tūmanako mā tēnei e ārahi atu ngā Pākehā e whakatata mai rā; i tua atu he tohu tēnei mō te tautoko a te iwi i te Kīngitanga. Heoi, i te tau 1885 ka tangohia e Te Heuheu a Tūwharetoa ki waho o tēnei whakaaetanga, ka tono kia kuhu te Kōti Whenua Māori me ana mahi ki roto i te rohe o Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

Tērā tētahi wā e noho ana te Kōti Whenua, ka tū ake a Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui - rangatira o Muaūpoko/Ngāti Apa/Wanganui, hoariri o Te Kooti – ki te taunaha i te tonga o te moana o Taupō i runga i te take raupatu. I tana kī ake kei te mura tonu ana ahi kā ki te whenua, ka huri a Te Heuheu ka tohu ki te tihi o Tongariro (te maunga tapu o Ngāti Tūwharetoa) e tuku auahi mai rā me tana kī, “Arā taku ahi”. Whakawhiwhia ana ngā whenua katoa ki a Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

I te wā ka kōtitia te whenua, ka whakaaro a Te Heuheu – i runga i ngā akiaki a Te Paranihi, te Minita mō ngā Take Māori – ko te huarahi pai hei tiaki i ngā maunga tapu a Tongariro, a Ngāuruhoe, a Ruapehu, ko te tuku ki raro i te mana o te Karauna. Ka mana tēnei hiahia ōna, ka noho koinei ngā whenua tāpui tuatahi o te motu. Kāore ētahi o ngā rangatira i whakaae ki tēnei mahi āna. Ka mate a Te Heuheu i te tau 1888.