Te Hāpuku

Te Hāpuku (?–1878), of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe Ngāti Te Whatu-i-apiti, was an influential chief of Hawke's Bay. As a youth he was caught up in the wars which swept over the region, and was a prisoner of the Waikato tribe for a time.

He was a signatory to the 1835 Declaration of Independence, and as a result Major Bunbury, who took the Treaty of Waitangi to Hawke’s Bay in 1840, took care to obtain his signature. At first Te Hāpuku rejected the Treaty on the basis that Ngāpuhi had become "slaves" by supporting it, but he was later persuaded to sign.

In the early 1850s Te Hāpuku became a firm ally of Donald McLean, the influential government land purchase commissioner. Te Hāpuku helped him purchase large tracts of land in the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay. He was eager to sell land because he hoped European settlement would bring commercial and other advantages. McLean began to treat Te Hāpuku as the leading chief of the district, and Te Hāpuku took on the role of a government land purchase agent. This led to growing hostility from other Hawke's Bay rangatira (chiefs) who were less keen to sell land, and who had (or claimed) at least as much status as Te Hāpuku.

Te Hāpuku was determined to sell land without the knowledge or consent of those who occupied or claimed rights over it. In response, armed clashes broke out in 1857-58. Peace was restored when McLean arranged an agreement in September 1858.

Te Hāpuku opposed the King Movement and fought against the Hauhau and Te Kooti. But he later supported the Hawke's Bay-based Repudiation movement, which aimed to reverse purchases that were said to be fraudulent. He died in 1878.

Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara

• Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies

Te Hāpuku

Nō te iwi o Ngāti Te Whatu-i-apiti o Ngāti Kahungunu a Te Hāpuku (?-1878). He rangatira nui ia ki Te Matau a Māui. I tōna ohinga i te wā o ngā pakanga ā-iwi, ka hopukina, ka mauria ia hei mauhere e ngā iwi o Waikato mō tētahi wā.

I te tau 1835 ka haina ia i te Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni. Koinā te take, i te heringa a Meiha Bunbury i te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Te Matau a Māui i te tau 1840, ka tika tōna ara ki a Te Hāpuku ki te haina. I te tīmatanga, kāore ia i tautoko te Tiriti, i te mea hei tāna, nā tō rātou tautoko, kua noho a Ngā Puhi hei “taurekareka”; heoi, nō muri ka haina ia.

I te tōmuatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1850, ka pūmau a Te Hāpuku ki a Te Mākarini (Donald McLean), te kōmihana hoko whenua a te kāwanatanga. Nā Te Hāpuku ia i āwhina ki te hoko i ētahi whenua nui ki Te Wairarapa, ki Te Matau a Māui. I hīkaka ia ki te hoko whenua, nā runga i te tūmanako ki te tau te noho a te Pākehā, ka whai hua te iwi, ka tipu ngā tauhokohoko. Ka titiro a Te Mākarini ki a Te Hāpuku ānō nei ko ia te rangatira nui o te rohe. Ka noho a Te Hāpuku hei āpiha hoko whenua mā te kāwanatanga. Nā tēnei, ka tipu te raruraru ki ētahi atu rangatira o Te Matau a Māui e whakakeke ana kia hoko whenua, me tā rātou kī, he rite, he nui ake rānei ō rātou mana i te mana o Te Hāpuku.

Ka whakatenetene tonu a Te Hāpuku ki te hoko whenua. Hei ētahi wā, kāore ngā tāngata kei te noho i runga i te whenua i te mōhio kei te hokona aua whenua e Te Hāpuku, ahakoa ō rātou pānga ki te whenua. Whai anō ka pakaru te riri i te 1857-58. Nā Te Mākarini te rongo i hohou i te marama o Hepetema o te tau 1858.

I ātete a Te Hāpuku ki te Kīngitanga, i whawhai ia ki ngā Hauhau, i whawhai ia ki a Te Kooti. Nō muri ka huri ia ki te tautoko i te kaupapa Whakahētanga Hoko Whenua, i ngana ki te unu i ngā hokonga whenua i whakaarohia he whānako. Ka mate ia i te tau 1878.