Signing
| Signature | Sheet | Signed as | Probable name | Tribe | Hapū | Signing Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | Sheet 8 — The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet | Te Puke | Kīngi Hōri Te Puke | Ngāti Raukawa | Ngāti Pare, Ngāti Waihurehia | Ōtaki? 19 May 1840 |
Kīngi Hōri te Puke was a Ngāti Pare rangatira of the Ngāti Raukawa iwi, and perhaps also from the Ngāti Waihurehia hapū. He signed the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Treaty of Waitangi sheet on 19 May 1840 at Rangiuru pā in Ōtaki. Te Puke had a son called Kerei, who took over his land in Rangiuru after his death. His younger brother was Te Aotuhanga, known as Te Ao, who was the father of Te Puke and Ropata te Ao, who both became Members of the House of Representatives in the latter decades of the nineteenth century.
He migrated to Kapiti in 1824 or 1827, as part of the Te Heke Ruamaioro or Te Heke Kariritahi migration of Ngāti Raukawa from Maungatautari. On the journey Te Puke and his brother were lucky to escape capture in Whanganui at a battle in which Ngāti Raukawa lost many people.
In 1846, Te Puke resisted Rangihaeata forming a settlement at Ōtaki, and requested him and his followers from Rangitikei to depart. In the next year Te Puke was baptised by Reverend Henry Govett in Ōtaki.
Te Puke died in 1853 and is buried in the Rangiātea cemetery.
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