Signing
| Signature | Sheet | Signed as | Probable name | Tribe | Hapū | Signing Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Sheet 8 — The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet | Te Tute | Hone Tutenuku? | Te Āti Awa? | Ngāti Tawhirikura? | Port Nicholson 29 April 1840 |
Hone Tutenuku may be the rangatira who signed the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Treaty of Waitangi sheet as ‘Te Tute’ on 29 April 1840 at Port Nicholson. Tutenuku was from the Ngāti Tawhirikura hapū of Te Āti Awa.
Tutenuku possessed the taiaha called ‘Tawhiti’ in the 1840's. It had previously been used in the defence against the Waikato invasion of Otaka pā in 1831, before being sent down to Tutenuku in Wellington. While there, Captain Bate made a wager with Tutenuku: that a man with a sword could defeat one with a taiaha. They then proceeded to duel. When Bate made a slash at Tutenuku, he slapped the sword out of Bate’s hands. Armed again, Bate made another attempt to strike at Tutenuku, who hit Bate on the temple with the taiaha and knocked him unconscious, thus winning their wager.
In 1850, Donald McLean, the Native Land Purchase Commissioner, recorded that Tutenuku, among others, had offered to sell land at Mangore. In 1888 he was recorded as being entitled to participate in the Tenths Wellington District.
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