Alfred (Turi) Carroll (1890–1975) was born at Wairoa, in northern Hawke's Bay. He was of Irish and Ngati Kahungunu descent. His uncle was Sir James Carroll, the long-serving Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori. At an early age he became known as Turi, after his ancestor Turipareta. He was educated at Te Aute College. During World War I he was active in recruiting for the Maori Contingent. Even though he had lost the sight in his left eye he went overseas with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1917. He reached the rank of sergeant and was wounded.
Hēnare Tomoana, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Te Whatu-i-āpiti, was born in the 1820s or early 1830s in Hawke's Bay. Little is known of his early life, except that he grew up during the conflict of the "musket wars".
In 1851 he joined in selling large blocks of land to Donald McLean, the government land purchase commissioner. He remained an enthusiastic land-seller well into the 1860s, partly because he was often in debt.
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.
Karaitiana Takamoana (?–1879), of the Ngāti Hawea hapu (sub-tribe) of Ngāti Kahungunu, is said to have been born in Wairarapa. As a young warrior he was involved in the "musket wars" of the 1820s. He later learned to read and write at William Colenso's mission school, and became an influential chief.
Nireaha Tāmaki, of Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu, was born on the Manawatū River some time in the mid-1830s. He is perhaps best known for his bitter struggle to retain lands within the large Mangatainoka block, which the government was determined to purchase for railway construction.
Niniwa-i-te-rangi (often known as Niniwa Heremaia), a Ngāti Kahungunu woman of mana, was born in Wairarapa in 1854. Through her battles in the Native Land Court, her abilities as a speaker, and her knowledge of whakapapa and tradition, she qualified as a leader of Wairarapa Māori.
She was involved in hosting the Kotahitanga Parliament when it met at Pāpāwai in 1897 and 1898. Later she took an editorial role in setting up the Maori-language newspapers Te Puke ki Hikurangi and Te Tiupiri.
The Ngati Kahungunu chief Henare Matua first came into contact with Europeans in the 1840s, when he arranged some land leases for European squatters. Although he signed the Waipukurau land deed in 1851, he later opposed the sale of further land.
Although Matua had an early link with the King Movement, and opposed land sales, in the 1860's he supported the government against the Hauhau – members of the Pai Marire religion who opposed the sale of land to Europeans. However, he did not become directly involved in the fighting.
James Carroll was born at Wairoa, in northern Hawke's Bay, in 1857. His father was European. His mother was of Ngati Kahungunu. In 1870, although only 13, he joined the campaign against Te Kooti and was mentioned in despatches. He later became a cadet in the Native Department, and took part in selling land on the East Coast.
Born in southern Wairarapa to a Pakeha whaler and Maori mother, Hoani Paraone Tunuiarangi became a chief of Ngati Kahungunu and a volunteer soldier, known in later life as Major Brown. As a young man in the 1860s he acted as a guide and interpreter for the government forces.
