Moka, as he was originally known, was the youngest of three brothers, all influential Ngāpuhi chiefs. Following the battle of Te Ika-A-Ranginui at Kaiwaka in 1825 (where he was shot but rescued by fellow Ngāpuhi chief Rāwiri Taiwhanga), he took the name Te Kainga-mataa - meaning either 'Wounded by a bullet' or 'The holder of ammunition'.
Originally of the Ngāi Tawake hapū, from Okuratope Pā, Waimate North, Moka and his brothers, Te Wharerahi and Rewa, later formed the Patukeha hapu, in memory of their mother who had been slain by a Ngare Raumati taua in 1800.
Moka was one of Hongi Hika's generals and a distinguished warrior during the Musket Wars. He participated in a number of battles, including Matakitaki, Mokoia, Te Totara, Kaiwaka and Urewera.
Moka and his two brothers were original signatories to the Declaration of Independence, signed by a number of Northern chiefs at Waitangi on 28 October 1835. He was also present at Christ Church, Kororāreka (Russell), on 30 January 1840, when Captain William Hobson read proclamations extending the boundaries of New South Wales to include the islands of New Zealand, confirming Hobson's own appointment as Lieutenant-Governor, and dealing with the issue of land transactions (notably pre-emption). At the completion of this event, a document stating what had occurred was signed by around 51 people - Moka was the sole Māori signatory.
On 5 February 1840, at Waitangi, Moka and his brother Rewa both spoke against the proposed Treaty with the Crown. Moka raised the issue of illegal land transactions by certain Europeans, and referred to the proclamations of 30 January. He said,
Let the Governor return to his own country: let us remain as we were. Let my lands be returned to me - all of them - those that are gone with Baker. Do not say, 'The lands will be returned to you.' Who will listen to thee, O Governor? Who will obey thee? Where is Clendon? Where is Mair? Gone to buy our land notwithstanding the book [proclamation] of the Governor.
Hobson was reminded of discussions at Kororāreka the week before, where he had promised 'that all lands unjustly held would be returned; and that all claims to lands, however purchased, after the date of the Proclamation would not be held to be lawful.' Moka immediately challenged Hobson's claim: 'That is good, O Governor! That is straight. But stay, let me see ... Where is Baker? Where is the fellow? Ah, there he is - there standing! Come return to me my lands.' Baker quietly replied, ‘E Hoki Koia' (‘Will it indeed return?'). Lacking an understanding of Māori, Hobson ignored this insult. Moka retorted: ‘There! Yes, that is as I said. No, no, no; all false, all false alike. The lands will not return to me.'
At this point, with other chiefs speaking of their wish to send the Pākehā away, the outlook appeared bleak for the Crown. Later in the meeting, though, Moka's elder brother, Te Wharerahi, supported the Crown and the Treaty. He was backed by influential Hokianga chiefs Tamati Waka Nene and his brother Eruera Maihi Patuone, whose views helped sway opinion. (Te Wharerahi, incidentally, was married to Nene and Patuone's sister, Tari.)
The following day, a number of chiefs signed the Treaty, including Te Wharerahi and - after much prompting - Rewa. But although Moka's name appears on the Treaty document (written as ‘Te Tohu O Moka'), there is no signature or mark on the document itself. It seems, then, that Moka chose not to sign as a matter of principle. He is thought to have died in the 1860s and is buried in the Paripari urupā (cemetery) at Mataraua.
By Brent Kerehona
Āpihai Te Kawau (?–1869), of Ngāti Whātua, probably fought against Ngāpuhi in his youth. He later joined the great Ngāti Whātua/Ngāti Maniapoto war expedition known as Te Āmiowhenua (encircling the land).
The iwi involved in Te Āmiowhenua fought their way through Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Manawatū, Wairarapa, Wanganui, Taranaki and Waikato. After a major defeat by Ngā Puhi at Te Ika-a-ranga-nui in 1825 Te Kawau and his people left their lands on the Tāmaki isthmus (the future site of Auckland) for several years.
Te Kawau signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Manukau Harbour in March 1840. One reason was that he wanted British protection against future Ngāpuhi raids. He subsequently provided 3,000 acres (1200 hectares), for £50 and a quantity of goods, for the new capital of Auckland on the Waitematā Harbour.
At first Te Kawau was able to manage the relationship between his people and the colonial authorities. He made sure that Māori customary law would, at least initially, be respected. This was reflected in the Native Exemption Ordinance of 1844, through which Māori lawbreakers were punished with a fine, rather than culturally unacceptable imprisonment.
In 1852 Te Kawau became an assessor - a Māori magistrate who worked with European magistrates in settling disputes among Māori. For this he was given a pension. Later however, he began to speak out against land sales. By the time of his death in 1869 Ngāti Whātua owned only a fragment of their former lands, and British law had become dominant.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Ani Pihema, Ruby Kerei, and Steven Oliver
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Āpihai Te Kawau
Nō te iwi o Ngāti Whātua a Āpihai Te Kawau (?-1869). Kāore e kore i roto ia i ngā pakanga ki a Ngā Puhi i tōna ohinga. Nō muri ka kuhu ia ki Te Āmiowhenua, te taua nui o Ngāti Whātua me Ngāti Maniapoto ka takahi i te ara o Tūmatauenga mā Rotorua, Te Matau a Māui, Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, Te Manawatū, Te Wairarapa, Wanganui, Taranaki, tatū ki Waikato. Whai muri i te patunga kino o Ngāti Whātua e Ngā Puhi i Te Ika-a-ranganui i te tau 1825, ka whakarērea a Tāmaki-makau-rau e Te Kawau me tōna iwi mō ētahi tau.
Ka haina a Te Kawau i te Tiriti o Waitangi ki ngā wai o Manukau i te marama o Maehe o te tau 1840. Ko tētahi take i haina ia, kia tiakina a Ngāti Whātua e Peretānia i ngā whakaekenga o Ngā Puhi. Whāia, ka hokona e Te Kawau te 3000 eka (1200 heketea) hei whakatū i te tāone matua o Ākarana ki ngā tahatika o Te Waitematā; e 50 pāuna me ētahi taonga hokohoko te utu mō aua whenua.
I te tīmatanga, taea noatia ai e Te Kawau ngā whakahaere i waenganui i tōna iwi me ngā mana o te koroni. I te tīmata ka ngana ia kia arongia ngā tikanga a te Maori. Kitea ai tenei āhuatanga i te Native Exemption Ordinance o te tau 1844, e mea ana ki te takahi te tangata Māori i te ture, ka whainahia ia, kāore ia e mauhereheretia, i te mea he takahi tenei i ngā tikanga a te Māori.
I te tau 1852 ka eke a Te Kawau hei āteha – he kaiwhakawā Māori ka mahi tahi me tētahi kaiwhakawā Pākehā ki te whakatau i ngā tautohetohe i waenganui i te Māori. Ka utua a ia ki te penihana mō tēnei mahi. Tāria te wā, ka whakahē a Te Kawau i te hoko whenua. Tatū rawa ki tōna matenga i te tau 1869, iti noa iho ngā whenua kua toe ki a Ngāti Whātua, ka mutu, kua kake ko te ture o Peretānia kei runga i ngā mea katoa.
Eruera Tirikātene, of Ngāi Tahu, was born near Kaiapoi in 1895. When the First World War broke out in 1914 he enlisted in the army and served with distinction in France.
After the war he set up a number of profitable businesses, including a dairy farm, a timber mill and a fishing fleet. While visiting Rātana pā in 1921 he became attracted to the teachings of the religious leader and prophet T. W. Rātana, and began living there. He particularly admired Rātana's use of the Treaty of Waitangi as a way of seeking justice for Māori and settling land claims. Rātana's emphasis on land claims particularly appealed to him, as Ngāi Tahu had been actively seeking redress for their claims since the 1840s.
Tirikātene became one of Rātana's key advisers, and led the movement's inner councils. When Rātana decided to win the four Māori Parliamentary seats, Tirikātene was the obvious candidate for Southern Māori. He narrowly missed in the 1928 and 1931 elections. In 1932 he won a Southern Māori by-election caused by the death of the sitting member, Tuiti Makitānara. This was the first parliamentary seat for the Rātana movement.
One of the first steps Tirikātene took was to present a petition seeking statutory recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi. After that he took every opportunity to speak of the Treaty during debates, and frequently reminded the House of Ngāi Tahu's claims.
Another major concern was the poverty of his people, Māori unemployment and discriminatory rates paid to Māori for relief work.
Tirikātene felt that working with Labour was the best way to achieve his aims. He helped build an historic alliance between Labour and Rātana. By 1943 all four Māori seats had been won by Rātana/Labour candidates. In 1936 Tirikātene became chairman of the new Labour government's Māori policy committee. As the historian Angela Ballara notes, his speeches after 1936 reflect his joy and gratitude at the racial equality promoted by Labour's social welfare programme.
When Rātana died in 1939, Tirikātene led the political section of the movement. In 1943 he became member of the Executive Council representing the Māori people, and later chaired a parliamentary committee overseeing the Māori war effort. He tried to retain the Māori war effort organisation as a peacetime body, to give Māori real control over their own affairs. But this aim was only partly achieved with the Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945. He was also disappointed not to be made Māori Affairs Minister.
Tirikātene had more success in settling the Ngāi Tahu claims. A 1944 settlement, which the iwi never considered to be full settlement of their claims, resulted in a £300,000 payment, to be paid in a series of annual £20,000 payments. He was appointed chairman of the Ngāi Tahu Trust Board, set up to manage this fund for the benefit of the tribe. He was also involved in a settlement of the Waikato confiscation claims in 1946.
From 1949 to 1957 Tirikātene was in the Parliamentary Opposition. When Labour won back the Treasury benches between 1957 and 1960 he once again failed in his aim to become Māori Affairs Minister, and in having Waitangi Day declared a public holiday. The most that Prime Minister and Māori Affairs Minister Walter Nash would allow was for 6 February to be "a national day of thanksgiving". It did not become a public holiday until the 1970s. Tirikātene was knighted in 1960. He died in 1967.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Eruera Tīhema Te Āika Tirikātene
I whānau a Eruera Tirikātene ki te takiwā o Kaiapoi i te tau 1895. Nō Ngāi Tahu ia. I te tau 1914 ka kuhu a ia hei hōia i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao; hau ana te rongo mō tana toa i ngā pakanga ki Wīwī.
Ka mutu te pakanga, ka whakatū ia i ētahi pakihi whai hua, ko ētahi he pāmu miraka kau, he mira kani rākau, he waka hī ika. I tētahi haerenga ki te pā o Rātana i te tau 1921 ka kawea ia e ngā tohutohu a Tahupōtiki Rātana, te kaiārahi whakapono, he matakite. Ko te hūnuku tērā a Tirikātene ki reira noho ai. Ka whakamihi a Tirikātene mō te whakamahi a Rātana i te Tiriti o Waitangi hei huarahi whakaū i ngā tika, whakatau i ngā kerēme whenua a te Māori. Ka tino rata ia ki te hiahia o Rātana kia whakataungia ngā kerēme mō ngā whenua Māori, i te mea i te rapu a Ngāi Tahu i tētahi paremata mō ā rātou kerēme mai anō i te tekau tau atu i 1840.
Ka riro ko Tirikātene tētahi o ngā kaitohutohu matua a Rātana. Nāna ngā whakahaere o te rōpū i taki. Ka puta te whakatau a Rātana kia riro mai ngā tūru Māori e whā i te Pāremata. Kāore he mea i tua atu i a Tirikātene mō te tūru o Te Tai Tonga. Tata tonu ka toa ia i ngā pōti o 1928 me 1931. Ka mate te Mema Māori mō Te Tai Tonga, a Tuiti Makitānara i te tau 1932, ka toa a Tirikātene i te pōti whāiti mō te tūru wātea. Ko ia te Mema Pāremata tuatahi a te rōpū Rātana.
Ko tētahi o ngā mahi tuatahi a Tirikātene, he tāpae i tētahi pitihana ki mua i te Pāremata kia whakamanatia te Tiriti o Waitangi i raro i te ture. Kāore i mimiti ana kōrero ki te Whare mō te Tiriti, tae atu ki ngā kerēme a Ngāi Tahu.
Ko ngā take nui ki a ia ko te rawakore o tōna iwi, te hunga Māori kāore he mahi, me ngā utu iti ki te kaimahi Māori mō ngā mahi whakahirihiri.
Ka whakapono a Tirikātene, mā te mahi tahi me Reipa ka tutuki ōna whāinga. Ka āwhina ia kia tū he kotahitanga a Reipa rāua ko Rātana. Kia taka ki te tau 1943 kua riro i a Reipa/Rātana ngā tūru Māori e whā o te Pāremata. I te tau 1936 ka eke a Tirikātene hei heamana o tētahi komiti a te kāwanatanga Reipa hou mō ngā take Māori. E ai ki te tumu kōrero a Angela Ballara, whai muri i te tau 1936 ka rongo tonu koe i roto i ana kauhau te harikoa me te whakamihi mō te taurite o ngā kaupapa toko i te ora a Reipa ki te Pākehā me te Māori.
I te matenga o Rātana i te tau 1939, ko Tirikātene ka ārahi i ngā take tōrangapū. I te tau 1943 ka kuhu a ia hei mema o te Kaunihera Whiriwhiri hei kanohi mō te iwi Māori. Ko ia te heamana o tētahi komiti o te Pāremata ka whakahaere i ngā mahi a te iwi Māori mō te whawhai. Ko te hiahia o Tirikātene kia noho te rōpū Māori mō te Whawhai mō ngā rā o te āio, kia whai mana ai te iwi Māori ki runga i āna ake whakahaere. Heoi, kāore i eke pū ki runga i tāna i hiahia, tāpae ki te putanga o te Ture Whakapakari i te Ora me te Ōhanga o te iwi Māori o te tau 1945. Ka pōuri ia kāore ia i tohungia hei Minita mō ngā Take Māori.
Hāunga tērā, ka hua ngā mahi a Tirikātene ki te whakatau i ngā kerēme a Ngāi Tahu. I te tau 1944 ka takoto te whakaritenga mō te tahua e 300,000 pāuna, e 20,000 pāuna ka tukua ki te iwi ia tau. Ka tohungia a ia hei heamana o te Poari Kaitiaki o Ngāi Tahu, i whakatūria ki te tiaki i te tahua hei painga mō te iwi. I te tau 1946 i roto anō ia i te whakataunga o ngā kerēme raupatu a ngā iwi o Waikato.
Mai te tau 1949 ki te tau 1957 ko Tirikātene i te Pae Ātete i te wā ko Nāhinara te kāwanatanga. Ka hoki anō a Reipa hei kāwanatanga mō te wā 1957-1960. Kāore tonu a ia i arongia hei Minita mō ngā Take Māori, kāore hoki i eke tana kaupapa kia tū te rā o Waitangi hei rā hararei ā-motu. Paku noa te neke a Waata Naahi (Walter Nash), te Pirimia me te Minita mō ngā Take Māori, i tāna i kī ka tū te rā 6 o Pēpuere hei “rā whakamoemiti puta i te motu”. Kia tae rā anō ki te tekau tau atu i 1970 ka whakataungia te rā o Waitangi hei rā hararei mō te motu katoa. Ka whakawhiwhia a Tirikātene ki te tohu Tā i te tau 1960. Nō te tau 1967 ka mate ia.
Hoani Te Heuheu, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, was born in 1897 at Waihī on the shores of Lake Taupō. His father Tūreiti Te Heuheu Tūkino V was an ariki (senior chief) of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and one of the most prominent Māori leaders of his time.
When Tūreiti Te Heuheu died in 1921, Hoani took on his father's title and status.
He also inherited a number of urgent problems. Several Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū (sub-tribes) had been making a significant income by selling fishing rights and by charging European fishermen a fee to move through their lands. Angry fishermen complained, and the government stepped in. In return for the tribe giving Taupo waters and access to the Crown as a public reserve, the Crown would pay £3,000 annually to a Ngāti Tūwharetoa Trust Board. This would be used for the benefit of the tribe. A number of fishing licences would also be issued to the tribe each year. This did not appeal to those hapu who had done well through lands that were near the rivers and lakes. Now they could expect no more than a share of a general tribal fund. Nevertheless Te Heuheu signed the agreement in July 1926. He was criticised by many of his own people, some of whom continued to call for more compensation. However, he became chairman of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Trust Board, a position he held for the remainder of his life.
The annual payment became more important as Ngāti Tūwharetoa began to run up serious debts. Large areas of land leased to timber companies did not produce the expected income. Also, the tribe was unable to achieve the return of their leased lands.
Things came to a head in 1937. The timber company took a case against the Aotea District Maori Land Board, which was the agent for the Māori owners. The company won £23,500 in damages. This was a vast sum at the time, and had to be paid by the landowners. Te Heuheu then sued the Land Board for negligence, but his case failed in the Supreme Court.
He then focussed on the Treaty of Waitangi as the tribe's last defence. He claimed that the legislation under which the Land Board operated went against the Treaty and was therefore invalid. In 1941 the Privy Council heard his case - Te Heuheu Tūkino v Aotea District Maori Land Board. The Law Lords ruled that unless it was incorporated into New Zealand statutes the Treaty was not legally binding. This remains the current position in New Zealand law. Hoani Te Heuheu died of tuberculosis in 1944.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Hoani Te Heuheu Tūkino VI
I whānau mai a Hoani Te Heuheu Tūkino i te tau 1897 ki Waihī i ngā tahatika o te moana o Taupō. Ko Tūreiti Te Heuheu Tūkino V tōna matua, ko ia te ariki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ka hau te rongo mō tōna arikitanga ki te motu. I te matenga o Tūreiti i te tau 1921 ka matika a Hoani ki te whakakapi i tōna tūranga.
Ka taka mai ki runga i a ia ētahi raruraru kua roa e huri haere ana. Kei te whiwhi ētahi hapū o Ngāti Tūwharetoa i ētahi moni mā te hoko āheinga ki te hī ika me te nama i ngā Pākehā ka hiahia haere mā ō rātou whenua. Ka amuamu ngā kaihī Pākehā, ko te kuhunga atu tērā o te kāwanatanga. Ko tā te kāwanatanga i tāpae ki mua i a Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ki te tukua e te iwi ngā tika mō te moana me ōna tahatika hei whenua tūmatanui i raro i te Karauna, ka utua te iwi ki te toru mano pāuna ia tau. Ka haere tēnei moni ki tētahi Poari Kaitiaki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ā, māna e whakangao te moni hei painga mō te iwi. I tua atu, ka whakawhiwhia te iwi ki ētahi raihana hī ika kore utu ia tau. Kāore ngā hapū i te mahi moni i ngā whakaritenga o mua atu i rata ki tēnei ritenga. Ka heke ā rātou moni whiwhi, i te mea he wāhanga noa o te pūtea mā te katoa ka hoki mai ki a rātou. Ahakoa tērā, ka hainatia te whakaaetanga e Hoani i te Hūrae o te tau 1926. Ka tātāhia ia e ētahi o āna ake, ko ētahi ka tono tonu i tētahi paremata. Heoi, ka eke a ia hei heamana o te Poari Kaitiaki o Tūwharetoa, mate rawa.
Ka piki haere ngā nama a Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ka nui atu te arotahi ki te moni ka whiwhi te iwi ia tau. Kāore i eke ngā hua ka puta ki te iwi i te rīhi o ngā whenua ki ngā kamupene tope rākau ki tērā i manakotia. I tua atu, kua herea ngā whenua kei raro i ngā rīhi, kāore e tareka e te iwi aua rīhi te unu.
I te tau 1937 ka heria e tētahi kamupene tope rākau te Poari Takiwā Whenua Māori o Aotea ki te kōti. Ko te Poari nei te māngai mō te hunga whai pānga. Ka whakawhiwhia te kamupene ki te 23,000 pauna. He moni nui whakaharahara tēnei i taua wā. Ka mate te hunga whai pānga ki te utu i tēnei. Kātahi ka heria e Te Heuheu te take nei ki te Kōti Matua mō te hakurara o te Poari; ka hinga anō ia.
Kātahi ka aro ia ki te Tiriti o Waitangi hei waka kawe i ngā kaupapa mō te iwi. Ko tana whakapae, kāore i te hāngai ngā ritenga o te ture whakamana i te Poari Takiwā ki te Tiriti o Waitangi, nā reira kāore ōna kiko. I te tau 1941 ka whakarongo te Kaunihera Motuhake a te Kīngi ki te take nei arā, Te Heuheu v Poari Takiwā Whenua Māori o Aotea. E ai ki ngā Rōra Ture, mēnā kāore te Tiriti i roto i ngā hanganga ture o Aotearoa, kāti, kāore ōna mana ā-ture. Kei te pēnei tonu te āhua i tēnei rā. Ka mate a Hoani Te Heuheu i te kohi i te tau 1944.
Eva Rickard, of Tainui, was born in 1925 at Te Kopua, Raglan. She is perhaps best known for leading the Raglan golf course protest.
During World War II, Te Kōpua was destroyed to make way for an aerodrome, and the Māori landowners were evicted. After the war the land was not returned to its Maori owners, but instead was turned into a golf course. Eva Rickard led a long struggle to win back the land; in 1978 she was arrested for a sit-in protest. Television images of her arrest were a defining moment in the struggle.
In the end she won the cause. The golf course became a farm, with a marae and training centre site. The Raglan protest, and others at Bastion Point in central Auckland, helped to change land legislation. If land taken for public works is no longer needed, the government is now required to return it to the original owners.
Eva Rickard remained active in tribal affairs and environmental issues. In February 1984 she led a 2,000 strong hīkoi (march) to Waitangi, demanding an end to Waitangi Day celebrations until all Treaty grievances were settled. She later unsuccessfully stood for Parliament for Mana Motuhake (Maori self-determination) before forming her own party - Mana Māori - in 1993, but this did not flourish. Eva Rickard died in 1997.
Adapted from material originally found on www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz, a site developed by the Treaty Information Unit in the State Services Commission
Eva Rickard
I whānau mai a Tuaiwa Eva Rickard i Te Kōpua i Whāingaroa i te tau 1925. Kei te mōhio te iwi whānui ki a Tuaiwa i te mea nāna i ārahi ngā mautohe mō te papa hahaupōro o Whāingaroa. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ka wāwāhia ngā kāinga i Te Kōpua, ka panaia ngā whānau, kia pai ai te whakatakoto taunga rererangi. I te mutunga o te pakanga kāore i whakahokia taua whenua ki ngā Māori whai pānga, ka hurihia kētia hei papa hahaupōro. Mō te wā roa ka whawhai a Tuaiwa kia hoki mai te whenua. I te tau 1978 i mauherea ia mō te mautohe nohonoho; ka hopukina tana mauherenga e te pouaka whakaata. Mai i tēnei wā, ka arongia nuitia tana take.
I te mutunga ka puta tana kaupapa ki te whaiao ki te ao mārama. Ka hoki mai ngā whenua, ka hurihia te papa hahaupōro hei pāmu me tōna marae, tōna pokapū whakangungu. Nā ngā mautohe o Whāingaroa, o Takaparawhā, ka tirohia anōtia ngā ture kei runga i ngā whenua Māori. Ki te tangohia he whenua Māori mō ngā mahi tūmatanui, ki te mutu te hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki taua pito whenua, me hoki aua whenua ki te hunga whai pānga.
Ka noho a Tuaiwa Rickard ki roto i ngā kaupapa a te iwi me ngā kaupapa tiaki taiao. I te tau 1984 nāna tētahi hīkoi i ārahi ki Waitangi, ko tā rātou i whai kia whakamutua ngā kaupapa whakanui i te Tiriti, kia ea rā anō ngā kerēme katoa. Ka tū ia mō te Pāremata i raro i te rōpū o Mana Motuhake, engari kāore ia i toa. I te tau 1993 ka tū tōna ake rōpū tōrangapū, ko Mana Māori; engari kāore i tino kaha. Ka mate a Tuaiwa Eva Rickard i te tau 1997.
Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, of Ngāti Apa and Ngā Rauru, was born at Te Kawau, near Bulls, in 1873.
In November 1918 he described a vision of the Holy Spirit, which had come to him in the form of a strange whirlwind-like cloud. After this he was known as the Māngai (mouthpiece) of the Holy Spirit, and was said to have the gift of healing through prayer. His reputation spread rapidly, and a village grew where he lived, becoming known as Rātana pā (midway between Whanganui and Marton). In 1921 and 1922 he travelled throughout New Zealand. Thousands attended his meetings, and many became his followers.
During the early 1920s the Rātana religious movement became more organised and political. An office was set up at Rātana pā, and members began publishing a newspaper, Te Whetū Mārama o Te Kotahitanga. In 1924 Rātana took a petition to London, signed by more than 30,000 Māori. They called for the return of confiscated lands, and implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi. He was not allowed to speak with King George V. A member of the group also tried and failed to present the petition to the League of Nations in Geneva. But Rātana’s actions did help persuade the New Zealand government, in 1926, to set up a commission of inquiry (the Sim Commission). It was to investigate land confiscation, and it later upheld many Māori grievances over land.
The Rātana Church was formally established in 1925. In 1928 Rātana became involved in politics. He referred to the four Māori seats as the four quarters of his body, which he aimed to win through the voting power of his followers – who were said to number 40,000 by 1934. Rātana favoured the Labour Party, who had consulted Rātana supporters in devising their Māori policy.
In 1932 Eruera Tirikātene became the first Rātana MP (representing Southern Māori), with instructions to support Labour. A Rātana candidate also won the Western Māori seat in 1935. In 1936 Rātana and his family declared themselves Labour Party members. At an historic meeting in 1936 he presented the Labour leader, M.J. Savage, with gifts symbolising the partnership between Rātana and Labour. By 1943 all four Labour seats were held by the Rātana/Labour alliance. Rātana died in 1939.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana
Ka whānau mai a Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana i Te Kawau, e pātata ana ki Te Ara-taumaihi (Bulls) i te tau 1873. Ko ōna iwi ko Ngāti Apa, ko Ngā Rauru.
I te marama o Nōema o te tau 1918 ka whakaaturia mai te Wairua Tapu ki a ia, hei tāna, he pēnei i te kapua āwhiowhio te āhua. Nō muri ka mōhiotia whānuitia ia ko te Māngai o te Wairua Tapu. Ka taea e ia te whakaora tangata mā roto i te karakia. Kāore noa i roa ka hau whānui te rongo mōna, ka tipu tētahi hapori i tōna kāinga, mōhiotia ai ā tōna wā ko Rātana pā (tata ki te tāone o Marton). I ngā tau o 1921 me 1922 ka takahia e ia te mata o te whenua. Ka muia ana hui e te tini me te mano, taka tonu te rahi ki raro i ana tohutohu.
I te tōmuatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1920 ka whakatikatika te Hāhi Rātana i a ia, ka ruku ki ngā kaupapa tōrangapū. Ka whakatūria he tari ki te pā o Rātana, ka whakaputahia he nūpepa, ko Te Whetū Mārama o Te Kotahitanga. I te tau 1924 ka heria e Rātana tētahi pitihana ki Rānana, e 30,000 te hunga haina. Ko te whāinga o tēnei pitihana kia whakahokia ngā whenua o te Māori i raupatutia, kia whakamanatia te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kāore i whakaaetia kia tūtaki ia ki a Kingi Hōri V. Nā tētahi o tōna rōpū i heri te pitihana ki Geneva, me kore e taea te tāpae ki te aroaro o te Rīki o ngā Iwi o te Ao; hauwarea. Heoi, nā te pitihana i whakakorikori te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa kia whakatū kōmihana (te Kōmihana o Sim) hei rangahau i ngā mahi raupatu whenua. Ka whakaae te kōmihana nei ki ētahi o ngā nawe i whakaarahia e pā ana ki te whenua Māori.
Nō te tau 1925 ka tū te Hāhi Rātana hei hāhi whai tikanga i raro i te ture. I te tau 1928 ka kuhu a Rātana ki te ao tōrangapū. Ka whakaritea e ia ngā tūru Pāremata e whā o te iwi Māori ki ngā wāhanga e whā o tōna tinana. Ka whai a Rātana kia riro aua tūru e whā, mā te tohutohu ki ana pononga me pēhea tā rātou tuku i ā rātou pōti. Tae atu ki te tau 1934 e 40,000 te rahi o ana pononga. Ka hiahia piri a Rātana ki te rōpū Reipa, he haere pea nō Reipa ki te kōrero ki a Rātana i te whakahiatotanga o ā rātou kaupapa here ka pā ki te iwi Māori.
I te tau 1932 ka pōtitia a Eruera Tirikātene ki te Pāremata mō te tūru Māori o Te Waipounamu; ko ia te mema Rātana tuatahi; ko ngā tohutohu atu ki a ia kia tautoko i a Reipa. Ka riro i a Rātana te tūru Māori o Te Tai Hau-ā-uru i te tau 1935. I te tau 1936 ka pānuitia e Rātana tā rātou kuhu ko tana whānau hei mema o te Rōpū Reipa. I tētahi hui whakahirahira i te tau 1936, ka tukua e Rātana ētahi taonga ki te kaiārahi o te rōpū Reipa ki a Te Hāwiti (Savage), he tohu i te mahinga tahitanga a Rātana rāua ko Reipa. Tatū ki te tau 1943 kua taka ngā tūru Māori katoa ki raro i te hononga Rātana/Reipa. Kei te mau tonu rāua ki taua ritenga i ēnei rā. Nō te tau 1939 ka mate a Rātana.
Matiu Rata, of Ngāti Kuri, was born at Te Hāpua in the far north, in 1934. As a young man he was a leader of the Rātana youth movement, and he later became a seaman and trade union official. In 1963 he was elected as Labour MP for the Northern Māori seat.
He was a stern and committed critic of National's Māori policies during the 1960s. He was Minister of Lands and Minister of Māori Affairs in the third Labour government (1972–1975), and played a key role in drafting the Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1974. This major change in Māori land policy undid National's 1967 Amendment Act, which had been extremely unpopular among Māori. Rata focussed on Māori retaining their land and using it for their own benefit. Rata was also instrumental in establishing the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975.
In 1979 Rata became dissatisfied with Labour's Māori policies. After being dropped as chairman of the Labour caucus committee on Maori Affairs, he resigned from the party. He then formed his own party, Mana Motuhake (Maori self-determination), and contested the Northern Māori seat several times. Rata led the far north (Muriwhenua) tribes in presenting their Treaty of Waitangi claims to the Waitangi Tribunal in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These ground-breaking claims led to a settlement of Māori fishing claims in 1992. Rata died in a car accident in 1997.
Matiu Rata
Nō te tau 1934 ka whānau mai a Matiu Rata ki Te Hāpua i Te Hiku o te Ika a Māui. Ko Te Aupōuri tōna iwi. I ngā rā o tana ohinga he kaiārahi a ia mō te wāhanga rangatahi o te hāhi Rātana. Nō muri ka kuhu a Rata hei heremana, hei āpiha ūniana hoki. I te tau 1963 ka uru ia ki te Pāremata hei Mema mō te tūru o Te Tai Tokerau.
I te tekau tau atu i 1960 kāore i ārikarika te haehae a Rata i ngā kaupapa here a Nāhinara e pā ana ki te Māori. Ka matika te kāwanatanga Reipa tuatoru (1972-1975) ka tohungia a Rata hei Minita mō ngā Whenua, hei Minita mō ngā Take Māori. He wāhi nui tōna i te tuhinga o te Ture Whakatikatika mō ngā Take Māori o te tau 1974. Nā tēnei ture me ōna kaupapa here whenua Māori hou i unu te Ture Whakatikatika i ngā Take Māori o te tau 1967 i kawa rā te iwi Māori. Ka hāngai te titiro a Rata ki te pupuri a te Māori ki ōna whenua hei painga mō rātou. He wāhi nui anō hoki tō Rata i te whakatūnga o Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1975.
Ka tae ki te tau 1979 kua kore a Matiu Rata e pai ki ngā kaupapa here a Reipa. Tāpiri atu, kāore i tautokona tana noho hei heamana o te komiti a Reipa mō ngā take Māori. Ka rihaina ia, ka whakatū i tōna ake rōpū tōrangapū, ko Mana Motuhake. Whakataetae ai a Rata mō te tūru Māori o Te Tai Tokerau, nāna hoki ngā kerēme a Muriwhenua i whakatakoto ki mua i Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi i te paunga o te tekau tau atu i 1980 me te tōmuatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1990. Nā tēnei i wawae te huarahi e whakataungia ai ngā kerēme a te Māori mō ngā rawa hao ika i te tau 1992. Ka aituā, ka mate a Matiu Rata i tētahi tukinga waka i te tau 1997.
Māui Pōmare, of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Toa, was born in 1875 or 1876. His mother, Mere Hautonga Nicoll, was the daughter of Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi, one of the few women to sign the Treaty of Waitangi.
His parents were followers of the pacifist prophets Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, and sometimes resided at their Parihaka settlement. Pōmare was present at Parihaka when it was invaded and destroyed by the Armed Constabulary in 1881.
He was educated at Te Aute College, where he was taught about modern theories of hygiene, promoted by James Pope, the Inspector of Native Schools. He came to believe that many aspects of Māori culture conflicted with health and hygiene. This view did not appeal to traditional Māori leaders.
In 1893 Pōmare left to study in the United States. He attended the American Medical Missionary College in Chicago, and graduated MD in 1899, returning to New Zealand the following year.
In 1900 there were fears of a bubonic plague, and the government addressed the problem of substandard hygiene and housing in the main centres and rural Māori settlements. Pōmare became Māori Medical Officer in 1901. District Māori Councils were also set up to prepare regulations on sanitation and hygiene. Pōmare travelled widely, inspecting water supplies and sanitary arrangements, and advising the Māori Councils. He became a skilled speaker when visiting Māori communities, which helped him break through the conservative attitudes of many older tribal leaders. He actively sought to remove the influence of tohunga (traditional healers), and supported the Tohunga Suppression Act of 1907. He believed assimilation into Pākehā society presented the best hope for the Māori people.
After 1907 the government lost interest in health reform and cut back funding for the Māori Councils. As a result the Councils stopped much of their work, and Pōmare was transferred to the Native Department.
In 1911 he was elected to Parliament representing Western Māori. When Massey's Reform government came to power in 1912 he was made a member of the Executive Council representing Māori. He was unable to win major health reforms, although he tried hard to settle Taranaki land claims. He was knighted in 1922.
In 1923 he became Minister of Health. As Minister he introduced maternity hospitals and new medical techniques. This significantly reduced infant and maternal mortality among both Māori and Europeans.
Working with Āpirana Ngata and others he was instrumental in setting up the Sim Commission, which inquired into land confiscations (raupatu) in 1927. The Commission, although working with limited terms of reference, upheld many longstanding grievances arising from the raupatu. Pōmare died in 1930.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Graham Butterworth
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare
Ka whānau mai a Māui Pōmare i te tau 1875, 1876 rānei. Ko ōna iwi ko Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Toa. Hei tamāhine tōna whāea a Mere Hautonga Nicoll nā Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi, tētahi o ngā wāhine tokoiti ka haina i te Tiriti o Waitangi. He pononga ōna mātua nā Te Whiti o Rongomai me Tohu Kākahi, ngā matakite mautohe mārire. I ētahi wā ka noho ōna mātua ki tō rātou kāinga kei Parihaka. I reira a Pōmare i te tau 1881 i te wā ka whakaekengia a Parihaka e ngā Pirihimana Mau Pū.
I kuraina a Pōmare ki te kāreti o Te Aute. I reira ka ākona ia ki ngā ariā hou mō te noho i runga i te mā, e whakahauhia rā e Te Pōpi (James Pope), te Kaititiro o ngā Kura Māori. Ka toko te whakaaro ki roto i a Pōmare kei te taupatupatu ngā tikanga a te Māori ki te hauora me te horoi. Kāore ētahi o ngā tohunga Māori i rata ki ana kōrero.
I te tau 1893 ka wehe a Pōmare ki te whai i te mātauranga ki Amerika. Ka kuhu a ia ki te Kāreti o Amerika mō ngā Tākuta Mihinare (American Medical Missionary College) i Chicago, ā, nō te tau 1899 ka puta ia i ana whakamātautau MD; nō te tau o muri ka hoki ia ki Aotearoa.
I te tau 1900 i te noho mataku a Aotearoa kei whakaekea e te mate piwa urutā. Ka tahuri te kāwanatanga ki te whakatika i te paru o te noho a te iwi Māori, tae noa ki te kino o te āhua o ngā whare i ngā tāone nui me ngā kāinga Māori. Ka eke a Pōmare hei Āpiha mō te Hauora Māori i te tau 1901. Ka whakatūria ngā kaunihera ā-rohe hei whakatakoto ritenga mō te noho paru kore. Ka takahi a Pōmare i te roa, i te whānui o te whenua ki te arotake i ngā wai mō ngā hapori, i ngā whakaritenga paru kore, ki te āwhina hoki i ngā Kaunihera ā-rohe. Ka tau ia ki te kōrero ki ngā huinga Māori; he āwhina nui tēnei mōna, mai kore ka ngāwari ngā kaumātua ki a ia me ana kaupapa. Ka whakapau kaha a ia kia tāmia te awe o ngā tohunga. Ka tautoko ia i te Ture Whakamutu Tohunga o te tau 1907. I tino whakapono a Pōmare, ka ora te iwi Māori mā te whai i ngā tikanga a tauiwi.
Whai muri i te tau 1907, ka mutu te aro nui a te kāwanatanga ki ngā āhuatanga hauora, ā, ka tapahia ngā tahua ki ngā Kaunihera Māori ā-rohe. Nāwai ā, ka mutu te nuinga o ngā mahi a ngā Kaunihera, ka tonoa a Pōmare ki te Tari mō ngā Take Māori mahi ai.
I te tau 1911 ka uru a Pōmare ki te Pāremata hei Mema Māori mō Te Tai Hau-ā-uru. Nō te tau 1912 ka kuhu ko te rōpū Riwhōma hei kāwanatanga, ka whakatūria a Pōmare ki te Rōpū Whiriwhiri hei kanohi mō te iwi Māori. Kāore i tutuki ana tūmanako kia whakarerekēngia te pūnaha hauora. Hāunga, i whakapau kaha ia ki te whakatau i ngā kerēme whenua i Taranaki.
I te tau 1923 ka tohungia ko ia hei Minita mō te Hauora. I tēnei wā, ka whakatūria ngā whare hōhipera whakawhānau pēpi, ka whakaurua mai ngā tikanga hou ki te whānuitanga o ngā kaupapa hauora. Kātahi ka iti ake te matemate o ngā kōhungahunga me ngā whaea, Māori mai, Pākehā mai.
Ka mahi tahi rāua ko Āpirana Ngata kia tū te Kōmihana a Sim i te tau 1927 ki te rangahau i ngā raupatunga whenua. Ahakoa te whāiti o tana titiro, ka whakaae te Kōmihana ki te rahi o ngā kerēme ka pupū i ngā mahi raupatu i te whenua. Ka mate a Pōmare i te tau 1930.
Paraire Paikea, of Te Uri-o-Hau, was born at Ōtamatea, Kaipara, in 1894. He trained for the Methodist ministry, and was ordained in 1920. Later he was attracted to the teachings of Tahupōtiki Rātana, the religious prophet and faith healer, and began to take a prominent role in the Rātana movement.
In 1924 he helped prepare a petition seeking compensation for Treaty of Waitangi grievances, which Rātana attempted to present to King George V. In 1925 Paikea became a minister in the Rātana church.
After 1928 Paikea played a greater role in the political side of the Rātana movement. He made special efforts to resolve the grievances of Ngāti Whātua - in particular ongoing land loss at Orakei, in Auckland. He also worked as Rātana's private secretary, and by 1930 was a member of the Tokowhitu (Committee of Seven), which formed the Rātana executive.
He played a leading role in forging the historic alliance between Rātana and Labour in 1936. In 1938 Paikea won the Northern Māori seat, and entered Parliament as a Rātana/Labour member. In 1941 he was appointed to Cabinet as a representative of the Māori people. During World War II he worked hard to set up and coordinate the Māori War Effort Organisation. Over 300 tribal committees were tasked with recruiting Māori for the armed forces and essential industries. As the war progressed more responsibilities were added. As the historian Claudia Orange notes, many Māori welcomed this rare chance to show that they could perform demanding duties.
Paikea wanted to turn the War Effort Organisation into a peacetime body which would help Māori to control their own affairs. This was not to be, as Māori hopes were dashed by the watered-down Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945. Paikea died suddenly in 1943.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Paraire Karaka Paikea
I whānau a Paraire Paikea ki Ōtamatea i te takiwā o Kaipara i te tau 1894. Ko Te Uri-o-Hau tōna iwi. Ka whakangungua ia hei minita mō te hāhi Wēteriana, nō te tau 1920 a ia ka whakawahia. Nō muri ka whakawhirinaki ia ki ngā tohutohu a Tahupōtiki Rātana, te matakite nāna tōna ake hāhi i waihanga. Ko te tīmatanga tēnei o tana kuhu haere ki ngā whakahaere o te rōpū Rātana. I te tau 1924 ka āwhina ia ki te whakatakoto i tētahi pitihana e rapu paremata ana mō ngā takahitanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi. I kawea e Rātana ki Ingarangi hei whakatakoto ki mua i te aroaro o Kīngi Hōri V. I te tau 1925 ka whakawahia a Paikea hei minita i te hāhi Rātana.
I te tau 1928 ka kaha ake te whai wāhi a Paikea ki ngā mahi tōrangapū a te rōpū Rātana. I ngana ia ki te whakatau i ngā nawe o Ngāti Whātua mō te rironga tonutanga o ō rātou whenua kei Ōrākau i Tāmaki-makau-rau. Ko ia hoki te hēkeretari tūmataiti a Tahupōtiki. I te tau 1930 kua uru ia ki te Tokowhitu, ngā kaiwhakahaere o te rōpū Rātana.
He wāhi nui tōna i te hononga o Rātana me Reipa i te tau 1936. I te tau 1938 ka pōtitia a Paikea ki te Pāremata hei Mema Māori mō Te Tai Tokerau. I te tau 1941 ka kuhu ia ki te rūnanga kāwanatanga hei kanohi mō te iwi Māori. I te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao ka pau tana kaha ki te whakatū i te kaupapa o ngā Mahi a te Māori mō te Whawhai. Neke atu i te 300 ngā komiti Māori i whakatūria ki te rapu tāngata hei hōia, hei kaimahi i ngā ahumahi ka āwhina i te pakanga. Ka haere te pakanga ā, ka nui atu ngā kawenga i runga i ngā komiti nei. E ai ki te tumu kōrero a Claudia Orange, ka hiahia tonu ngā Māori tokomaha ki te whakaatu i tō rātou kaha ki ngā mahi ahakoa te taumaha.
Ko te hiahia o Paikea ina mutu te pakanga, kia haere tonu te kaupapa ngā Mahi mō te Whawhai, hei āwhina i te iwi Māori ki te whakahaere i āna ake kaupapa. He aha hoki. Ka puta te Ture Whakapakari i te Ora me te Ōhanga o te iwi Māori 1945, he waimehatanga kau o tāna i tūmanako ai. Ohorere te matenga o Paikea i te tau 1943.
Āpirana Ngata (1874–1950), of Ngāti Porou, was born at Te Araroa on the East Coast. He graduated from Te Aute College, and later completed an MA and a law degree. He was the first Māori to complete a degree at a New Zealand University. He returned to the East Coast and became involved in improving Māori social and economic conditions.
Unlike a number of other tribes, Ngāti Porou had kept much of their land. The young Ngata, armed with legal expertise and determined to achieve progressive farming techniques and land tenure reform, encouraged sheep farming and investment in land development.
By 1916 Ngāti Porou were running more than 180,000 sheep. Ngata favoured the incorporation of owners into more workable legal bodies. It was a way to retain tribal ownership and to efficiently use land with multiple owners. It also meant fragmented Māori land titles could be combined into viable farming units.
During this early period Ngata was also prominent in the Young Maori Party. This movement was crucial in changing the focus of the Kotahitanga movement from the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori political autonomy, to pursuing its aims through mainstream politics.
In 1905 Ngata was elected to Parliament representing Eastern Māori. He was to retain the seat until 1943. He was a superb debater and a hard worker.
He first came to national prominence in connection with the 1907 Commission on Native Lands and Native Land Tenure. This was set up because of concern at the scale of European land purchase in the early twentieth century. The Commission was presided over by Robert Stout and Ngata. Its main task was to devise ways of utilising Māori land in a way to benefit both Māori and European settlers. The Stout-Ngata Commission, as it came to be called, was sympathetic to Māori, whom it described as a people "starving in the midst of plenty". It recommended that Māori retain large tracts of their remaining lands, and that the state should give farming assistance and training. But these recommendations were not followed and little was done. Instead, land purchase increased significantly in the following two decades.
Ngata also helped the jurist John Salmond draft the Native Land Act 1909, a massive statute that consolidated all previous Māori land law.
During the First World War Ngata maintained a Ngāti Porou tradition of loyalty to the Crown, and recruited Māori servicemen. He later built on the respect Māori servicemen had won during the war, achieving inquiries into many long-standing land grievances. Among them was the Sim Commission, which investigated land confiscations after the wars of the 1860s and upheld many grievances, despite limited terms of reference.
In 1927 Ngata received a knighthood, and in the following year became Native Minister in the United government. He was now able to press ahead with state-funded Māori land development, and set up land development schemes all over the country. His wider aim was to strengthen Māori communities and revive Māori culture.
Much of his success came from working through traditional tribal structures. In his land development work Ngata also encouraged a revival in Māori art and cultural studies. He helped set up a Māori school of arts at Rotorua, the Board of Maori Ethnological Research, and the Maori Purposes Fund Board.
Most Europeans had little sympathy for Māori land development, especially at a time of deepening depression and cutbacks in other government spending. Because of historical land loss much Māori land being developed was poor or marginal. Some schemes failed, adding to the resentment. Ngata, impatient with "red tape", tended to make decisions on the run, and Native Department officials were often unable to keep up with the paperwork. By the beginning of 1932 there was increasing criticism of Ngata. Irregularities were found in a number of accounts, and a Committee of Inquiry was set up. Its 1934 report criticised many aspects of Ngata's administration, and he immediately resigned as Minister. He was defeated by the Labour/Rātana candidate in the 1943 election. Ngata's development schemes remained a key element of Labour's Māori land policy, however, and many continued until the 1970s and 1980s.
Ngata died in 1950. He made an immense contribution to the Māori cultural and economic revival in the first half of the twentieth century.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by M. P. K. Sorrenson
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Āpirana Turupa Ngata
I whānau mai a Āpirana Ngata (1874-1950) ki Te Araroa i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ko Ngāti Porou tōna iwi. Ka puta ia i te kāreti o Te Aute, ka whai i tana tohu paerua (MA) me tana tohu hei rōia. Ko ia te Māori tuatahi ka tutuki i a ia tētahi tohu paetahi ki tētahi whare wānanga o Aotearoa. Ko tana hokinga tērā ki Te Tai Rāwhiti ki te hiki ake i te noho me te ōhanga o te Māori.
I puritia e Ngāti Porou ōna whenua, kāore i rite ki ētahi atu iwi. Ka hoki atu a Ngata me ōna mātauranga ture ki te kāinga, me tana hiahia kia whakahoutia ngā mahi ahuwhenua, kia tirohia te āhua o te pupuri i ngā whenua. Ka akiaki ia kia whakatūria ngā pāmu hipi, kia kuhuna he moni ki ngā kaupapa whakapai ake i te whenua.
Tae rawa ki te tau 1916, e 180,000 ngā hipi a Ngāti Porou. Ko te hiahia o Ngata, kia tū hei kaporeihana hei whakahaere i ngā whenua mō te hunga whai pānga, hei pupuri i te mana whenua ki te iwi, hei whakamahi pai hoki i aua whenua mā te hunga whai pānga. I raro i te hanga o te kaporeihana ka taea te kohikohi i ngā taitara whenua marara ki roto i ētahi pāmu.
I tēnei wā anō, ko Ngata tētahi o ngā kaiārahi o te Rōpū Taitamariki Māori. He wāhi nui tō rātou i te huringa o te kei o te waka o te Kotahitanga atu i te Tiriti o Waitangi me te mana motuhake, ki te rapu hua mā roto i ngā kaupapa tōrangapū whānui.
I te tau 1905 ka pōtitia a Ngata hei Mema Pāremata Māori mō Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ka noho ia ki tēnei tūru tae atu ki te tau 1943. Ka haere te kōrero mōna i te whare, he pū kōrero, he pukumahi.
Nā ana mahi mō te Kōmihana Whenua Māori o 1907, ka hau te rongo mōna ki te motu. I puta ake te Kōmihana i ngā āwangawanga mō te inati o ngā hoko whenua a te Pākehā i te tōmuatanga o ngā 1900. Ko Ngata rāua ko Rāpata Taute (Robert Stout) ngā ūpoko o te Kōmihana. Ko tana mahi tuatahi ko te rapu huarahi hei whakamahi i ngā whenua o te Māori hei painga mō te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā. I pukuaroha te Kōmihana ki te Māori; arā tana kī mō te Māori, he iwi "kore kai i te wā o te huhuatanga". Ko te tūtohinga a te Kōmihana, kia pupuri te Māori ki te nuinga o ngā whenua kei roto tonu i ōna ringa; i tua atu, me tuku e te kāwanatanga ētahi āwhina ki te whakawhanake i ngā mahi ahuwhenua me te whakangungu i te iwi kāinga. Heoti anō, kāore ēnei tūtohinga i whāia. Hei ngā tau e rua tekau ka whai, nui atu ngā whenua ka hokona.
Ka āwhina anō a Ngata i te tohunga ture a John Salmond ki te tuhituhi i te takotoranga tuatahi o te Ture Whenua Māori 1909. Kātahi tētahi hanganga ture nui rawa atu, inā rā ko ia te whakakotahitanga o ngā ture whenua Māori katoa o mua.
I te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, ka whai a Ngata i te tikanga a Ngāti Porou kia pūmau ki te Karauna, ko tana whakatenatena tērā i te iwi Māori kia uru hei hōia. Nā te māia o ngā toa Māori i te pakanga, whakaaetia noatia ai ngā tono a Ngata mō ētahi rangahau ki ngā nawe tautini e pā ana ki te whenua. Ko tētahi o ēnei rangahau ko te Kōmihana a Sim, i āta titiro ki ngā raupatunga whenua whai muri i ngā riri o te tekau tau atu i 1860. Whakaae ana te Kōmihana ki ētahi o ngā āwangawanga, ahakoa te whāiti o te tirohanga i whakaritea māna.
I te tau 1927 ka whakanuia a Ngata ki te taitara Tā, ā, nō te tau ka whai ko ia te Minita mō ngā Take Māori i te kāwanatanga Unaitiiti (United Party). Kua āhei tana tīmata ki te whakawhanake i ngā whenua Māori me ngā pūtea a te kāwanatanga hei tautoko. Ka whakatūria e ia ētahi kaupapa whakawhanake whenua puta noa i te motu. Ko tana whāinga nui kia pakari ngā hapori Māori, kia ora anō hoki te ahurea a te Māori.
Ka whai hua tana mahi tahi me ngā rangatira o tēnā iwi, o tēnā iwi. Mā roto i ngā kaupapa whakawhanake whenua ka āwhina anō a Ngata kia kaha mai anō ngā toi me ngā tikanga a te Māori. Nāna i āwhina te whakatūnga o te kura toi Māori ki Rotorua, Te Poari Whakapapa me Te Poari Pupuri Tahua mō ngā Take Māori.
Kāore i paku aro atu te nuinga o ngā Pākehā ki ngā kaupapa whakapaipai i ngā whenua Māori. Ko te wā hoki tēnei o te paheketanga o te ōhanga, i te tapahia ētahi atu o ngā āwhina a te kāwanatanga. Nā te rironga o ngā whenua papai, ko ngā whenua tītōhea i mahue mai hei whakapaipai. Ka hinga ētahi o ngā mahi ahuwhenua; ka pōuri ētahi Māori. Ka hōhā a Ngata ki te pōturi o ngā tari kāwanatanga; he kakama ia ki te whakatau take. He mahi nui tā ngā āpiha a te Tari Māori ki te whakaoti i ngā tuhinga e hāngai ana. I te tīmatanga o te tau 1932, kua nui ngā whakahē ka puta mō ngā mahi a Ngata. Ka huraina ētahi mahi kāore i te tika. Whāia, ka whakatūria he Kōmihana Uiui. I te tau 1934, ka puta tana pūrongo e arohae ana i ngā whakahaere a Ngata, ko te rihainatanga tērā o Ngata. Ka hinga ia ki te tangata o Reipa/Rātana i te pōti o te tau 1943. Hāunga, ka pūmau tonu a Reipa ki ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua a Ngata, ā, i te haere tonu ētahi tatū rawa ki ngā tekau tau o 1970 me 1980.
Nō te tau 1950 ka mate a Ngata. Nā wai ngā mahi nui atu i ā Ngata ki te whakaora i te iwi Māori - āna tikanga, tāna noho hoki.
- See also biography of Āpirana Ngata at Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau
Tai Mitchell, of Ngāti Pikiao and European descent, was born in 1877 at Ōhinemutu, Rotorua. His European father was the surveyor and government land purchase officer Henry Mitchell.
The younger Mitchell also trained as a surveyor and worked for the Lands and Survey Department. He soon became a leader in both the Māori and European communities, playing a key role in important hui (gatherings) and public events in Rotorua during the 1920s and 1930s.
With other Māori leaders he devoted much attention to creating scenic reserves in the Rotoiti and Rotoehu areas. In the early 1920s he was chairman of the Te Arawa District Maori Council. In this position he played a key role in dealings between the government and Te Arawa over compensation for lost fishing and other rights in the Rotorua lakes. The settlement, which was never considered by the iwi to be full settlement of their claims, included an annual payment of £6,000 to the Arawa Trust Board, which was to manage the funds for the benefit of Te Arawa.
Mitchell chaired the Trust Board until his death in 1944. Under his leadership the Board carried out a wide range of activities. It purchased land for farming, reopened the Kaituna River mouth, restored pipi beds, awarded educational scholarships and helped maintain marae. Mitchell was a firm supporter of Āpirana Ngata's land development schemes, and helped persuade Te Arawa to participate in them. The first scheme involved land at Horohoro, near Rotorua. Tai Mitchell died in 1944.
Adapted from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Henry Taiporutu Te Mapu-o-te-rangi Mitchell (Tai Mitchell)
I whānau a Tai Mitchell i Ōhinemutu i Rotorua i te tau 1877. He Pākehā tōna matua, nō Ngāti Pikiao tōna whāea. Ko Henry Mitchell tōna matua, he kairūri, he āpiha hoko whenua mā te kāwanatanga. Pērā anō a Tai, ka akoako hei kairūri, ka haere ki te mahi mā te Tari Rūri Whenua. Ka nui haere te tūranga o Tai i roto i ngā hapori Māori me ngā hapori Pākehā. Heoti, kitea nuitia ai ia i ngā hui nui ka tū ki Rotorua i ngā tekau tau o 1920 me 1930.
Ka mahi a Tai me ētahi atu rangatira o te iwi Māori ki te rāhui whenua whakapaipai i Rotoiti me Rotoehu. I te tōmuatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1920, ko ia te heamana o te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Te Arawa. I a ia i tēnei tūranga, ka noho a ia hei takawaenga mō te kāwanatanga me Te Arawa i ngā whitiwhitinga kōrero mō tētahi paremata ki te iwi mō te ngaronga o ngā tauranga ika me ētahi atu tika a Te Arawa e pā ana ki ngā roto o te rohe o Rotorua. He ono mano pāuna ia tau tētahi wāhanga o te whakataunga a te kāwanatanga, ka tukua ki te Poari Kaitiaki o Te Arawa, māna hei whakahaere mō te painga o te iwi.
Ka noho a Tai Mitchell hei heamana o te Poari tae rawa ki tōna matenga i te tau 1944. He nui ngā mahi a te Poari i taua wā. Ka hokona he whenua hei pāmu, ka huakina anōtia te pūaha o Kaituna, ka whakaorangia ētahi tumu pipi, ka whakawhiwhia he karahipi mātauranga, ka āwhinatia te manaaki i ngā marae. Pūmau a Tai Mitchell ki ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua a Āpirana Ngata, ā, nāna hoki a Te Arawa i whakawherewhere kia kuhu ki aua kaupapa. Ka tū te kaupapa ahuwhenua tuatahi ki Horohoro i Rotorua. Nō te tau 1944 ka mate a Tai Mitchell.
Rangiputangatahi Māwhete (1880–1961) was born at Jackeytown, south of Palmerston North. His main tribal affiliation was Rangitāne, although he had links to Muaūpoko, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri, Ngāti Hāmua and other Wanganui tribes.
He was educated at Te Aute College, and worked as an interpreter and land agent. He joined the Labour Party, and in 1925 he and other tribal representatives formed a Labour Maori Advisory Committee. Their report was later adopted as Labour's Māori policy. It dealt with rating problems, settlement of land claims, reform of the Māori electoral process and the establishment of a Māori council to advise government on Māori issues. Māwhete was the Labour candidate for Western Māori in the 1925 elections, but was heavily defeated by Māui Pōmare.
Māwhete did not stand in the 1928 election, but is thought to have helped plan policies for the Rātana movement. These were similar to Labour's Māori programme. After 1928 Māwhete concentrated on gaining cooperation between the Rātana movement and Labour. In the end, he succeeded. By 1943 all four Māori seats had been won by Rātana/Labour candidates.
In 1936 he was appointed to the Legislative Council. He continued to support the Labour government’s social welfare reforms. But he was less enthusiastic about other policies which he saw as inconsistent with the Treaty of Waitangi. He energetically promoted Māori Treaty rights during debates on the nationalisation of petroleum, lake and seabed ownership, the Waikato land confiscations and issues about the Whanganui River. Māwhete was appointed an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in 1959. He died in 1961.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Claudia Orange
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Rangiputangatahi Mawhete
I whānau mai a Rangi Mawhete (1880-1961) i Tiakitahuna (Jackeytown) i te tonga o Te Papa-i-oea. Ko tōna iwi nui ko Rangitāne, engari ka tātai ia ki Muaūpoko, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri, Ngāti Hāmua, tae atu ki ngā iwi o Wanganui.
I kuraina ia ki te kāreti o Te Aute, kātahi ka mahi hei kaiwhakamārama reo ā-waha, hei āpiha hoko whenua. Ka uru ia hei mema o te Rōpū Reipa, ā, i te tau 1925 ka whakatūria e rātou ko ētahi atu mema Māori tētahi Komiti Tohutohu i a Reipa mō ngā Take Māori. Nāwai ā, ka riro ko tā rātou pūrongo te kaupapa here a Reipa mō te Māori. Ka kōrerohia e tēnei pūrongo ngā raruraru e pā ana ki te utu reiti, te whakataunga o ngā kerēme whenua, te whakapai ake i ngā tikanga pōti Māori, me te whakatū i tētahi kaunihera Māori hei tohu i te kāwanatanga mō ngā take Māori. Ko Mawhete te tangata a Reipa i te tūru Māori o Te Tai Hau-ā-uru i te pōti o te tau 1925. Ka hinga a ia ki a Māui Pōmare.
Kāore a Mawhete i tū i te pōti o te tau 1928, engari e whakaarotia ana i whai wāhi ia ki ngā kaupapa here a te rōpū Rātana. He āhua rite ēnei kaupapa here ki ā Reipa. Whai muri i te tau 1928 ka whakapau kaha a Mawhete kia piri tahi a Reipa me te rōpū Rātana. I te mutunga iho, ka tutuki tana wawata. Kia tae ki te tau 1943 kua riro i a Reipa/Rātana ngā tūru Māori e whā.
I te tau 1936 ka tohungia a ia ki te Kaunihera Ture. Ka tautoko tonu a ia i ngā kaupapa toko i te ora a Reipa. Engari kāore ia i rata ki ētahi o ā rātou kaupapa here, hei ko tāna, ka taupatupatu ēnei ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kaha ia ki te whakaputa i ngā tika a te Māori i raro i te Tiriti i ngā tautohetohe mō te rironga o ngā papa kapuni, te mana ki runga i ngā roto me te takere o ngā wai, ngā whenua i Waikato i raupatutia, ngā take hoki e pā ana ki te awa o Wanganui. I te tau 1959 ka whakawhiwhia a Mawhete ki te tohu o te Emepaea o Peretānia (OBE). Nō te tau 1961 ka mate ia.
Mahuta Tāwhiao, of Ngāti Mahuta, was born in 1854 or 1855 at Whatiwhatihoe, Waikato. He was the oldest son of Tāwhiao, the second Māori King. He grew up during the wars of the 1860s and the isolation which followed.
As a result he received no European education and spoke little English. He became King on the death of his father in 1894. By that time the King Movement had declined, and was largely limited to the Tainui tribes in Waikato and Ngāti Maniapoto in the King Country.
The desperate position of his people led King Mahuta to seek compensation for the land confiscations of the 1860s. Prime Minister R. J. Seddon was eager to end Tainui isolation and gain King Mahuta's support in opening up the King Country for European settlement. He suggested that the King take a seat on the Legislative Council. Seddon also took steps to give the King Movement some self-government, and compensation for the confiscations. These latter proposals were later watered down and dropped.
In 1903 Mahuta accepted Seddon's offer of a seat on the Legislative Council, although some of his people opposed this. He temporarily passed on the Kingship to his younger brother, Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao. Mahuta soon became disillusioned with his limited role in the Council and the Liberals' Māori land policies. There was little progress in settling the confiscation claim. He took no active part in debates after 1907, although he attended sessions until his term ended in 1910, when he took up the Kingship again.
He died in 1912. King Mahuta's term on the Legislative Council was a brief and unsuccessful experiment in Kīngitanga cooperation with European authority.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (King Tāwhiao III)
Ko Whatiwhatihoe i Waikato te wāhi i whānau ai a Mahuta Tāwhiao i te tau 1854, 1855 rānei. Ko Ngāti Mahuta tōna iwi. Ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki a Tāwhiao, te Kīngi Māori tuarua. Ka pakeke ia i ngā riri o te tekau tau atu i 1860 me te wā o muri mai i te wā o te noho tūhāhā o tōna iwi. Koiraka rā te take kāore ia i kuraina ki te mātauranga me te reo Pākehā. Ka ara a ia hei Kīngi i te matenga o tōna matua i te tau 1894. I taua wā kua tūpuhi te Kīngitanga, kua whāiti ki ngā iwi o Tainui tae atu ki a Ngāti Maniapoto.
Nā te tino mate o tana iwi, ka rapu paremata a Mahuta mō ngā whenua i raupatutia i te tekau tau atu i 1860. Hīkaka katoa te Pirimia a Te Hētana (R. J. Seddon) ki tēnei, nā tōna hiahia mā Mahuta a ia e āwhina ki te whakamutu i te noho wehe o ngā iwi o Tainui, ki te huaki i te Rohe Pōtae hei whakanoho i ngā tāngata whai. I kōrero a Te Hētana ki a Mahuta mō tētahi tūru kei te noho wātea mōna i te Kaunihera Ture. Ka kōrerohia te tuku atu i tētahi wāhanga kāwanatanga ki te Kīngitanga me tētahi paremata mō ngā whenua raupatu. Tāria te wā ka waimeha, ka whakatahangia ēnei kaupapa.
I te tau 1903 ka whakaae a Mahuta ki tā Te Hētana, arā kia kuhu a ia hei mema o te Kaunihera Ture, hāunga ngā whakahē a ētahi tonu o tōna iwi. Ka tukua e ia te mana Kīngi ki tana teina ki a Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao mō tētahi wā. Taro ake, ka hōhā a Mahuta ki te mana kore o tana tūranga i roto i te Kaunihera Ture, ki ngā kaupapa here whenua Māori a te rōpū Rīpera. Roa te wā e tatari ana kia whakataungia te kerēme mō ō rātou whenua i raupatutia. I muri i te tau 1907, kāore i rongohia te reo o Mahuta i ngā tautohetohe, ahakoa te mea ka tae ia ki ngā noho tae atu ki te ekenga o tōna wā ki reira i te tau 1910. I taua wā ka hoki anō a Mahuta ki te whakahaere i ngā kaupapa a te Kīngitanga.
Ka mate ia i te tau 1912. Poto noa te wā ka noho a Kīngi Mahuta ki te Kaunihera Ture. Me kī, kāore he painga i puta i tērā whakamātautau o te mahi tahi a te mana o te Kīngitanga me te mana o te Pākehā.
Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (1908/9?–1966) was the eldest son of Te Rata, the fourth Maori King.
When his father died in 1933 he did not want to become King. He felt he was not fit for the task, and because his people were so poor he doubted whether they could support a king. At Te Rata's tangihanga (funeral), however, all the visiting chiefs agreed that the kingship should continue, and that Korokī should be king.
Throughout his reign he struggled to maintain the dignity of the Kīngitanga and obtain recognition. Many of the younger Maori leaders, including Āpirana Ngāta, thought his claim to kingship was pretentious. They rejected anything that did not support the sovereignty of Parliament. King Korokī's status was sometimes acknowledged by the government, and sometimes not.
In 1939, the government refused to exempt him from registering under the social security regulations. The Waikato tribes saw this as disrespect, and refused to attend the Treaty centennial celebrations in 1940.
Attempts to settle the Waikato confiscation claims formed another theme of Korokī's kingship. However, when it was achieved the settlement did not include a statutory recognition of King Korokī's position. From the late 1950s his health deteriorated, and he left public life. He died at Ngaruawahia in 1966.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Angela Ballara
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
Nō te tau 1868, 1869 rānei ka whānau mai a Rua Kēnana. Ko Ngāi Tūhoe tōna iwi. I te matenga o Te Kooti i te tau 1893 ka waiho tana kupu e mea ana ka haere ake he Tangata ki te whakatutuki i ana mahi kia hoki mai ngā whenua. Ki a Rua, ko ia tonu taua tangata.
I tēnei kōrero āna ka tōtara wāhi rua te Hāhi Ringatū nā Te Kooti i hanga. Nui te iwi o Ngāi Tūhoe ka whakapono ki a Rua me tana kī ka hoki mai ngā whenua ki raro i te mana o te iwi. I te tau 1907 ka hangaia e Rua tōna hapori ki te take o Maungapōhatu, te maunga tapu o te iwi.
I te tau 1910 ka hokona e Rua te 40,000 eka (16,000 heketea) o ngā whenua o Tūhoe mō te 31,000 pāuna, hei whakatipu i tōna pokapū i Maungapōhatu. Ko tana tūmanako, ka tae te rori me te rerewē ki reira. Hauwarea tērā tūmanako. Ka matemate ana pononga i te takurua, i te kore kai tika, i te kino o te āhua o ngā whare. Tatū ki te tau 1913 kua heke te rahi i Maungapōhatu mai i te 500-600 ki ngā whānau e 30 pea.
Kāore te kāwanatanga i pai ki a Rua. I te tau 1907 ka whakamanatia te Ture Whakamutu Tohunga, e hāngai tika ana ki a ia. I te tīmatanga o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, i whiua te whakapae he whana i te mana o te kāwanatanga tana mahi i tana kore i whakaae ki te tuku i ana tāngata ki te pakanga. Kāore i mutu te tutetute a te kāwanatanga i a ia. Ka whakapae te kāwanatanga kei te hoko waipiro a Rua i Maungapōhatu kāore nei ōna raihana hoko i taua kai. Kāore ia i tae ki te kōti i te wā i karangahia ai, ko te wā o te mahi kai hoki. Ka tonoa ētahi pirihimana ki te mau i a ia; engari kāore ia i haere.
I te Āperira o te tau 1916 ka whakaekea a Maungapōhatu e te ope nui o ngā pirihimana mau pū, i whakahaua kia haere ki te mauhere i a Rua. Ka pakū te pū o wai rā ka rere tēnā ki tāna pū, tēnā ki tāna pū. E rua ngā Māori i mate, ko tētahi ko te tama a Rua. E ai ki te tumu kōrero a Judith Binney, ka rāwekeweke ngā pirihimana i ngā taunakitanga, ka whakapae rātou nā ngā Māori te pakū tuatahi i tuku. Whakahē ana a Rua me ana pononga i tēnei. E ai ki a Binney, kei te tohu te rahi rawa atu o ngā taunakitanga ki te tika o te taha Māori. I tua atu, hei ko tāna, te āhua nei i āta whakamatea tētahi o ngā Māori. Nō muri ka nui ngā pātai mō te tika me te mana ā-ture o ngā whakaaetanga mō te whakaeke i a Maungapōhatu.
Ko te whakawākanga o Rua i te Kōti Matua tētahi o ngā whakawākanga roa rawa atu ki Aotearoa. Kāore i eke ngā whakapae mōna he whana i te mana o te kāwanatanga, heoi, ka whakaaetia te whakapae mō tana kore haere me ngā pirihimana i tō rātou haerenga atu ki te mau atu i a ia ki te whare herehere. Ka utaina te kotahi tau e mahi ana i ngā mahi taumaha, mutu ana tērā ko te 18 marama ki te whare herehere. E ai ki te kaiwhakawā o te kōti a Hapimana (Judge Chapman), me ako ngā Māori ki te horapa o te ture. Nō muri ka whakahēhia e te tokowaru o te hunga whakawā te whakataunga a Hapimana.
I te tau 1918 ka hoki a Rua ki Maungapōhatu. Tae ana ki te tau 1922 ka whakawhitia e Ngāi Tūhoe ōna whenua e 40,000 eka (16,00 heketea) i runga i te kī taurangi a te kāwanatanga ka whakatakotoria tētahi rori atu i Maungapōhatu ki ngā rohe o Te Moana a Toi me Rotorua. Kāore he rori, engari ka utua he paremata i te tekau tau atu i 1950. Ka heke haere, ka heke haere te ora o te kāinga o Rua i Maungapōhatu; tae ana ki te tau 1930 kua haere kē te nuinga o ngā tāngata. Nō te tau 1937 ka mate a Rua.
Rua Kēnana, of Ngāi Tūhoe, was born in 1868 or 1869. When Te Kooti died in 1893 he claimed to be the successor named Hepetipa (Hephzibah) whom Te Kooti had prophesied would complete his work by regaining the land.
His claims divided the Ringatū Church founded by Te Kooti. Many Tūhoe saw Rua as a symbol of a new era in which their lost lands would be returned and kept in their name. In 1907 he built a new religious community at the foot of Maungapōhatu, the mountain sacred to Tūhoe.
In 1910 Rua sold 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of Tūhoe land for £31,000 (equivalent to nearly $5 million in 2011). He planned to use this money to develop his community at Maungapōhatu. He also hoped that roads and railways would make it economically viable. None of this happened. People in the settlement continued to die because of harsh winters, poor diet and poor housing. By 1913 Rua’s community had declined from 500–600 people to about 30 families.
The government was suspicious of Rua, and the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 was aimed mainly at him. When the First World War broke out, he was accused of sedition because he had pacifist beliefs and opposed conscription of Māori into the armed forces. The government harassed Rua, using liquor laws to arrest him for selling illicit alcohol at Maungapōhatu. He refused to attend court, claiming he was busy with a harvest. Later he declined to accompany policemen who came to arrest him.
In April 1916 a large force of heavily armed constables was sent to arrest him. After a shot rang out two Māori, including Rua’s son, were killed in the subsequent exchange of fire. The historian Judith Binney stated that the police later manipulated the evidence to make it appear that Māori, planning an ambush, had fired first. Binney concluded that the ‘weight of evidence’ supported Rua and his followers’ denial of this version of events; in fact, one of the Māori who died might have been shot in cold blood. The way in which the arrest warrant was executed was later found to be highly questionable, if not illegal.
Rua’s trial in the Supreme Court was one of the longest in New Zealand history. Found not guilty of sedition but guilty of resisting arrest, he was sentenced to one year’s hard labour followed by 18 months’ imprisonment. The presiding officer, Judge Chapman, commented that Māori needed to learn that the law ‘reached every corner’ of the land. Eight members of the jury later publicly protested against the harshness of this sentence.
Rua returned to Maungapōhatu after his release in 1918. In 1922 Tūhoe exchanged 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of land for a government promise to build roads connecting the settlement with the eastern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua. The roads were never built, although some compensation was paid in the 1950s. Maungapōhatu could not survive economically, and by 1930 most of the people had left. Rua died in 1937.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Judith Binney
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Rua Kēnana
Nō te tau 1868, 1869 rānei ka whānau mai a Rua Kēnana. Ko Ngāi Tūhoe tōna iwi. I te matenga o Te Kooti i te tau 1893 ka waiho tana kupu e mea ana ka haere ake he Tangata ki te whakatutuki i ana mahi kia hoki mai ngā whenua. Ki a Rua, ko ia tonu taua tangata.
I tēnei kōrero āna ka tōtara wāhi rua te Hāhi Ringatū nā Te Kooti i hanga. Nui te iwi o Ngāi Tūhoe ka whakapono ki a Rua me tana kī ka hoki mai ngā whenua ki raro i te mana o te iwi. I te tau 1907 ka hangaia e Rua tōna hapori ki te take o Maungapōhatu, te maunga tapu o te iwi.
I te tau 1910 ka hokona e Rua te 40,000 eka (16,000 heketea) o ngā whenua o Tūhoe mō te 31,000 pāuna, hei whakatipu i tōna pokapū i Maungapōhatu. Ko tana tūmanako, ka tae te rori me te rerewē ki reira. Hauwarea tērā tūmanako. Ka matemate ana pononga i te takurua, i te kore kai tika, i te kino o te āhua o ngā whare. Tatū ki te tau 1913 kua heke te rahi i Maungapōhatu mai i te 500-600 ki ngā whānau e 30 pea.
Kāore te kāwanatanga i pai ki a Rua. I te tau 1907 ka whakamanatia te Ture Whakamutu Tohunga, e hāngai tika ana ki a ia. I te tīmatanga o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, i whiua te whakapae he whana i te mana o te kāwanatanga tana mahi i tana kore i whakaae ki te tuku i ana tāngata ki te pakanga. Kāore i mutu te tutetute a te kāwanatanga i a ia. Ka whakapae te kāwanatanga kei te hoko waipiro a Rua i Maungapōhatu kāore nei ōna raihana hoko i taua kai. Kāore ia i tae ki te kōti i te wā i karangahia ai, ko te wā o te mahi kai hoki. Ka tonoa ētahi pirihimana ki te mau i a ia; engari kāore ia i haere.
I te Āperira o te tau 1916 ka whakaekea a Maungapōhatu e te ope nui o ngā pirihimana mau pū, i whakahaua kia haere ki te mauhere i a Rua. Ka pakū te pū o wai rā ka rere tēnā ki tāna pū, tēnā ki tāna pū. E rua ngā Māori i mate, ko tētahi ko te tama a Rua. E ai ki te tumu kōrero a Judith Binney, ka rāwekeweke ngā pirihimana i ngā taunakitanga, ka whakapae rātou nā ngā Māori te pakū tuatahi i tuku. Whakahē ana a Rua me ana pononga i tēnei. E ai ki a Binney, kei te tohu te rahi rawa atu o ngā taunakitanga ki te tika o te taha Māori. I tua atu, hei ko tāna, te āhua nei i āta whakamatea tētahi o ngā Māori. Nō muri ka nui ngā pātai mō te tika me te mana ā-ture o ngā whakaaetanga mō te whakaeke i a Maungapōhatu.
Ko te whakawākanga o Rua i te Kōti Matua tētahi o ngā whakawākanga roa rawa atu ki Aotearoa. Kāore i eke ngā whakapae mōna he whana i te mana o te kāwanatanga, heoi, ka whakaaetia te whakapae mō tana kore haere me ngā pirihimana i tō rātou haerenga atu ki te mau atu i a ia ki te whare herehere. Ka utaina te kotahi tau e mahi ana i ngā mahi taumaha, mutu ana tērā ko te 18 marama ki te whare herehere. E ai ki te kaiwhakawā o te kōti a Hapimana (Judge Chapman), me ako ngā Māori ki te horapa o te ture. Nō muri ka whakahēhia e te tokowaru o te hunga whakawā te whakataunga a Hapimana.
I te tau 1918 ka hoki a Rua ki Maungapōhatu. Tae ana ki te tau 1922 ka whakawhitia e Ngāi Tūhoe ōna whenua e 40,000 eka (16,00 heketea) i runga i te kī taurangi a te kāwanatanga ka whakatakotoria tētahi rori atu i Maungapōhatu ki ngā rohe o Te Moana a Toi me Rotorua. Kāore he rori, engari ka utua he paremata i te tekau tau atu i 1950. Ka heke haere, ka heke haere te ora o te kāinga o Rua i Maungapōhatu; tae ana ki te tau 1930 kua haere kē te nuinga o ngā tāngata. Nō te tau 1937 ka mate a Rua.
Te Puea Hērangi (1883–1952) was a granddaughter of Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero, the second Māori King. Her uncle Mahuta, who became King after Tāwhiao, singled her out in childhood as having special abilities. He spent many hours with her, passing on his knowledge. She was to become a crucial figure in reviving the Kīngitanga (King Movement) among Tainui people in the twentieth century.
Te Puea emerged as a leader during the First World War. She opposed the government’s policy of conscripting Māori for war service, at a time when Tainui still felt lingering bitterness about the invasion and confiscation of their lands. The government compounded Tainui feelings of injustice by responding with a general order for Māori conscription which applied only to the King Country-Maniapoto district.
After the war Te Puea helped set up a Tainui settlement at Ngāruawāhia, and a new marae called Tūrangawaewae. For the King Movement this was a new centre and a new focus, and the settlement gradually took on the flavour of a ‘national marae’. Te Puea hosted several European politicians and dignitaries there, helping to restore the national status of the Kīngitanga.
Te Puea then focused on improving economic conditions for Tainui. She persuaded her people to join in Āpirana Ngata’s ambitious Māori land development schemes. She supervised the scheme and worked hard for many years to achieve her goal of Māori economic and community revival.
In 1937 Te Puea was made a CBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire). This indicated better relations between the Kīngitanga and the government. But Tainui, angry that the government did not acknowledge their King’s mana (prestige), did not attend the Treaty centennial celebrations at Waitangi in 1940.
In 1926 the Sim Commission had investigated grievances over the land confiscations of the 1860s. Although its terms of reference were limited, it upheld many Māori grievances. The government made various offers, and in 1946 Te Puea played a part in Waikato accepting Prime Minister Peter Fraser’s offer of a £5000 annual payment in perpetuity, to be administered by a Trust Board. Although many Waikato Māori thought this sum was grossly inadequate, Te Puea felt it was the best that could be achieved in the circumstances.
Until her death in 1952 she remained active in the social and economic life of the Tainui people.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Ann Parsonson
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Te Kirihaehae Te Puea Hērangi (Princess Te Puea)
Ka noho a Te Puea Hērangi (1883-1952) hei mokopuna nā Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero, te Kīngi Māori tuarua. Ka mate a Tāwhiao ka matika ko tana tama a Mahuta hei Kīngi Māori tuatoru. Ko ia te mea ka kite i ngā pūmanawa ake o Te Puea i a ia e tamariki tonu ana. Ka nui te wā ka noho a Mahuta ki te kōrero ki a ia, ki te tuku i ana mātauranga ki a Te Puea. Ā tōna wā ko ia tētahi ka whai wāhi nui ki te whakaora i te Kīngitanga i waenganui i ōna iwi o Waikato i te rautau rua tekau.
Ka hau te rongo mō Te Puea i te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. Nāna i ārahi ngā mautohe e ātete ana ki te kaupapa māperetanga a te kāwanatanga. I taua wā, kei te pōuri tonu ngā iwi o Waikato mō te whakaekenga me te raupatunga o ō rātou whenua. I te whakataunga a te kāwanatanga i te māperetanga ki runga i ngā Māori anake o Te Rohe Pōtae me Waikato, kātahi ka pōuri rawa atu te iwi.
I te mutunga o te pakanga, ka āwhina a Te Puea i ngā mahi kia tū he kāinga mō ngā iwi o Tainui ki Ngāruawāhia. Ka whakatūria he marae hou ki reira, ko Tūrangawaewae. He pokapū hou, he arotahinga hou tēnei mō te Kīngitanga. Ka nui atu te awe o Tūrangawaewae, ki ētahi, ko tōna ritenga, hei "marae mō te motu". Ka pōwhiritia e ia ngā kaitōrangapū me ngā rangatira Pākehā ki reira. Ka kake haere te mana o te Kīngitanga.
Kātahi ka tahuri a Te Puea ki ngā kaupapa ōhanga hei whakapai ake i te noho a ngā iwi o Tainui. Nāna tōna iwi i kuhu ki ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua a Āpirana Ngata. Ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua ki roto i tōna iwi, ka mutu, ka pau ngā tau e tutuki ai tōna whāinga, arā, kia ora anō te ōhanga me ngā hapori o te iwi Māori.
Nō te tau 1937 ka whakawhiwhia a Te Puea ki te tohu whakahōnore CBE, he tohu pea kua pai te titiro a te Kīngitanga me te kāwanatanga, tētahi ki tētahi. He aha hoki. I te pōuri tonu a Tainui i te kore whakaae o te kāwanatanga ki te mana o te Kīngi. I runga i tērā, kāore ngā iwi o Tainui i haere ki te hui whakanui i te rau tau o te Tiriti o Waitangi i Waitangi i te tau 1940.
I te tau 1926 ka rangahau te Kōmihana a Sims i ngā nawe i pupū ake i te raupatunga o ngā whenua Māori i te tekau tau atu i 1860. Ahakoa te whāiti o tana titiro, ka whakaae te Kōmihana ki te maha o ngā whakapae. Ka tāpaea e te kāwanatanga ētahi whakaritenga ki mua i te iwi. I te tau 1946 ko Te Puea tētahi ka tautoko i te tāpaetanga nā Te Pereiha (Peter Fraser) i whakatakoto ki mua i a Waikato. Mā tēnei whakaritenga ka whiwhi te iwi i te rima mano pāuna ia tau mō ake tonu atu, ka whakatūria he Poari Kaitiaki hei whakahaere. Ko te whakapae a ētahi o te iwi, he itiiti rawa te rima mano pāuna; hei tā Te Puea, koia nei te rahinga rawa atu ka tareka i raro i ngā āhuatanga o te wā.
Tae rawa ki tōna matenga i te tau 1952, ko Te Puea tērā i roto i ngā nekeneke katoa o ngā iwi o Tainui.
James Hēnare (1911–1989) was born at Mōtatau in the Bay of Islands. He was descended from a number of famous northern warrior chiefs, including Hōne Heke and Kawiti. His father Taurekareka Hēnare, elected Member of Parliament representing Northern Māori in 1914, was of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua. His mother, Hera Paerata, was of Te Rārawa, Ngāti Kuri and Te Aupōuri.
Hēnare was marked from childhood as a future leader, and was trained in Māori tikanga (custom) and whakapapa (genealogy). He was educated at Sacred Heart College, a European school in Auckland. Later he became a foreman on a Ngāti Hine Māori land development scheme. He was a lay reader in the Anglican Church from the late 1930s, and a long-serving member of the Auckland synod.
When his father died in 1940 James Hēnare became a leader, a role enhanced by his service in the war. He enrolled as a private in the 28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion, and quickly obtained a commission. He served with the Māori Battalion in North Africa - he was wounded at El Alamein - and in the Italian campaigns. He was promoted to captain in 1942, and major in 1944. In June 1945 he became commanding officer of the battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was an inspirational, fearless and courageous leader. He was mentioned in dispatches, and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1946 for his conduct at the battle of Monte Cassino.
After the war he devoted himself to public service and the leadership of his people. One of his most significant contributions was to help set up the kōhanga reo programme, through which pre-school children learnt the Māori language. He also continued his father's fight for recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi. He believed it was the special duty of Tai Tokerau (Northland) tribes to "argue the Treaty". Until his death he served as a member of Te Rūnanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, a committee of descendants of the chiefs who had signed the Treaty in 1840. Following on from his father he was a member of the Waitangi National Trust Board in 1940, and was organising secretary of the Waitangi centennial celebrations that year. He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1966, and was knighted in 1978. James Hēnare died at Kawakawa in 1989.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Puna McConnell and Robin C. McConnell
- Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
James Clendon Tau Hēnare
I whānau mai a James Clendon Tau Hēnare (1911-1989) ki Mōtatau i Pēwhairangi. He uri whakaheke ia nō ngā toa whakawehi o te raki pērā i a Hōne Heke, i a Kawiti mā. Ko Taurekareka Hēnare tōna matua, nō ngā iwi o Ngā Puhi me Ngāti Whātua. I pōtitia ia ki te Pāremata hei Mema Māori mō Te Tai Tokerau i te tau 1914. Ko tōna whāea ko Hera Paerata, nō ngā iwi o Te Rārawa, o Ngāti Kurī, o Te Aupōuri.
Mai anō i tōna tamarikitanga kua puta kē ngā tohu kaiārahi kei a ia; ka ākona ia ki ngā tikanga Māori me ngā whakapapa. I kuraina ia ki te Kāreti o te Manawa Tapu, he kura Pākehā i Tāmaki-makau-rau. Nō muri ka mahi a ia i runga i tētahi o ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua Māori a Ngāti Hine. Atu i te tōmuritanga o ngā 1930, he kaipānui reimana a ia i te Hāhi Mihinare. Ka hia tau a ia ka noho hei mema o te hīnota o Ākarana.
I te matenga o tōna matua i te tau 1940 ka matika a Hēnare hei kaiārahi; ka kuhu ia ki ngā rīriri i waenganui i ngā whenua o te ao, kātahi ka teitei atu tōna tūranga. Ka kuhu a ia ki Te Hokowhitu a Tū 28 hei hōia noa. Kāore noa iho i roa ka whai kōmihana. Ka kuhu ia ki ngā whawhai i Āwherika ki te Raki – i taotū ia i El Alamein – me Itāria. Ka kake a ia hei kāpene i te tau 1942, ā, nō te tau 1944 ka eke ia hei meiha. I te marama o Hune o te tau 1945 ka tohungia ia hei kaiwhakahaere o te ope taua Māori, ko te rūtene kānara tōna tūranga. He kaiārahi māia a Hēnare. Ka tū te ihiihi, ka tū te wanawana o ana hōia. Kuhuna ai ngā kōrero mō tōna toa ki ngā pānui. I te tau 1946 ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te tohu DSO mō tana ārahi i ana hōia i te pakanga o Monte Cassino.
I te mutunga o ngā riri ka huri a Hēnare ki ngā mahi kāwanatanga, ki te ārahi i tōna ake iwi. Ko tētahi o ngā mahi nui i āwhina ia, ko te whakatūnga o te kōhanga reo hei ako i te reo Māori ki ngā tamariki kōhungahunga. Ka hāpai ia i te take o tōna matua kia whai whakaaro nuitia te Tiriti o Waitangi. I whakapono ia he kawenga tapu tā ngā iwi Māori o Te Tai Tokerau ki te whakaputa kōrero mō te Tiriti. I runga ia i te Rūnanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, he komiti o ngā uri whakaheke o ngā rangatira nā rātou te Tiriti i haina i te tau 1840. Pērā ki tōna matua, i te tau 1940 ka tohungia a Hēnare ki te Poari Kaitiaki o Waitangi mō te Motu, ā, i taua tau tonu ko ia te hēkeretari whakahaere i te hui ka tū ki Waitangi hei whakanui i te rau tau o te hainatanga o te Tiriti. I whakawhiwhia ia ki te tohu CBE i te tau 1966; i te tau 1978 ka ūhia ia ki te tohu Tā. Ka mate a Hēnare i Kawakawa i te tau 1989.
Whina Cooper, of Te Rārawa, was born in northern Hokianga in 1895. She took part in local affairs and by the 1930s had become a leader of the northern Hokianga people.
In 1932 she played an active role, with Āpirana Ngata, in setting up Maori land development schemes in the region. Eleven schemes (comprising 98,000 acres, or 40,000 hectares) were set up in the Hokianga district, and Whina supervised several. The schemes made rapid progress, although several later proved uneconomic.
When her second husband (Bill Cooper) died in 1949 Whina moved to Auckland. Here she found a new role as a pan-tribal Māori leader. She was foundation president of the Maori Women's Welfare League, and was active in creating regional branches. By the mid-1950s the League had over 300 branches and 4,000 members. It greatly improved improving living conditions for Māori who had recently moved to the cities and faced discrimination in housing and employment. Whina was appointed an MBE in 1953.
Whina Cooper is perhaps best known for leading the famous 1975 land march from Te Hāpua (in the far north) to Parliament in Wellington. The march was organised by Māori groups opposed to the further loss of their land. It marked a new era of protest and reform.
For most New Zealanders who witnessed the march the most inspiring image was the seemingly frail but passionately articulate 80-year-old woman who led it. About 5,000 marchers arrived at Parliament on October 13, 1975, where Whina presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to the Prime Minister, Bill Rowling.
Whina Cooper continued in public life, opening the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990. She told an international audience to remember 'that the Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa'.
Whina Cooper died at Hokianga in 1994, aged 98. More than a million people watched the live television broadcast of her tangihanga (funeral).
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Michael King
- See: biography of Dame Whina Cooper in Te Ara Biographies
- Film of Te Roopu o te Matakite march arriving in Parliament
Whina Cooper
I whānau mai a Whina Cooper ki Hokianga i te tau 1895. Ko Te Rārawa tōna iwi. I whai wāhi ia ki ngā nekeneke me ngā kaupapa o tōna hapori. Tae ana ki te tekau tau atu i 1930, e ārahi ana a Whina i tōna iwi e noho mai rā i te raki o Hokianga. I te tau 1932 ka mahi a ia i te taha o Āpirana Ngata ki te whakatū kaupapa ahuwhenua ki ngā whenua Māori o tōna rohe. Tekau mā tahi ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua (e 98,000 eka, e 40,000 heketea rānei) ka tū ki te takiwā o Hokianga, ko Whina te kaiwhakahaere i ētahi. I te tīmatanga ka whai hua ngā mahi ahuwhenua; nāwai ā, ka hinga ētahi.
I te matenga o tana tāne a Bill Cooper i te tau 1949 ka hūnuku a Whina ki Tāmaki-makau-rau noho ai. I reira ka tū ia hei kaiārahi mō te ao Māori whānui. Ka tohungia ko ia hei perehitini tuatahi o te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora. He maha ngā peka o te rōpū nāna i tīmata. Kia tae ki te pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1950 e 300 ngā peka o te rōpū, e 4000 ana mema. Ka nui te āwhina a te rōpū nei ki te whakapai ake i te noho o ngā whānau Māori kātahi anō ka hūnuku ki te tāone, i te mea ka rongo ēnei whānau i te whakatoihara iwi i a rātou ka rapu kāinga, ka rapu mahi mā rātou. I te tau 1953 ka whakawhiwhia a Whina ki te tohu MBE.
Mōhiotia whānuitia ai a Whina Cooper i te mea nāna i ārahi te hīkoi rongonui o te tau 1975 mō te whenua. Ka tīmata tēnei hīkoi i Te Hāpua, e ahu atu ana ki te Whare Pāremata i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. He mea whakarite e ngā rōpū mautohe Māori e ātete ana i te ngaronga o ngā maramara whenua e noho tonu ana ki ngā ringaringa o te Māori. He āhuatanga hou tēnei momo mautohe ki Aotearoa.
Ka hiki rā ngā manawa o ngā tāngata tokomaha o Aotearoa i tēnei rūruhi e 80 te pakeke kei te ārahi i te hīkoi. E 5000 pea ngā tāngata ka tae ki te Whare Pāremata i te rā 13 o Oketopa o te tau 1975. I reira ka tāpaea e Whina te pitihana nā te 60,000 i haina, ki mua i te Pirimia a Bill Rowling.
Ka noho tonu a Whina Cooper ki mua i te aroaro o te iwi whānui o Aotearoa. Nāna ngā Taumāhekeheke o te Commonwealth ka tū ki Tāmaki-makau-rau i whakatuwhera i te tau 1990. Ko tana kupu ki te tini o Aotearoa me te ao e mātakitaki ana, 'i hainatia te Tiriti e tareka ai te noho tahi o ngā iwi i Aotearoa'.
Nō te tau 1994 ka mate a Whina Cooper ki Hokianga. E 98 tana pakeke. Neke atu i te kotahi miriona tāngata ka mātaki i tōna tangihanga i runga pouaka whakaata.
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.
During the 1920s and 1930s Carroll ran the Huramua station, and was very involved in local Wairoa farming organisations. He also devoted much attention to Māori welfare and economic development in the Wairoa region. In 1945 Carroll became a member of the Kahungunu Tribal Executive, and immediately after World War II his main focus was on rehabilitating Māori servicemen. In 1954 he helped set up the East Coast Maori Trust Council, which returned land formerly held in trust to its Māori owners.
Carroll was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1952, and received a knighthood in 1962. From around this time he put much of his energy into national Māori organisations. He was a member of the Maori Education Foundation, and President of the New Zealand Maori Council between 1963 and 1967. Increasingly, his rural and conservative values conflicted with the emerging younger generation of more radical urban Māori leaders. Sir Turi Carroll died at Huramua station in 1975.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Jinty Rorke
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Read the full biography in Te Ara Biographies
Hēni Materoa, also known as Te Huinga (1852/56?–1930) was born at Makauri, a few miles north of Tūranga (Gisborne). Her father was Mikaera Tūrangi of the Rongowhakaata tribe. Her mother was Riperata Kahutia, an influential leader of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki.
In 1881 she married James Carroll, who in 1887 began a long career as Liberal Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, and served as Minister of Maori Affairs between 1899 and 1912. Hēni Materoa's parents disapproved of the marriage, forcing the young couple to elope to Wellington where they were married in the registry office. The couple then moved to Gisborne.
When her mother died in 1887 Hēni Materoa-Carroll took over her role as a leader of her people. She achieved great prominence, and was described as one of the great rangatira (chiefs) of Tūranganui. She did not join her husband in Wellington after his election to Parliament, but often entertained visiting parliamentarians and leading political figures - including Sir George Grey - at their Gisborne home.
Hēni Materoa-Carroll helped to raise funds for Māori soldiers serving abroad during World War I, mainly through the Eastern Maori Patriotic Association, founded by Āpirana Ngata. She also worked tirelessly among the local Māori community, notably during the influenza epidemic of 1918, and raised funds and provided land for a children's home named after her. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1918. Hēni Materoa-Carroll died in November 1930.
Adapted from the DNZB biography by Sheila Robinson
- Read the full biography on Te Ara Biographies
Hēni Materoa Carroll
I whānau a Hēni Materoa (1852/56?-1930) ki Makauri i te raki o Tūranga. Ko Te Huinga tētahi o ōna ingoa. Ko Mīkaera Tūrangi tōna matua, nō te iwi o Rongowhakaata. Ko tōna whāea ko Riperata Kahutia, he wahine whai mana o Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki.
Nō te tau 1881 ka mārena a Hēni i a Timi Kara. I te tau 1887 ka pōtitia a Timi Kara ki te Pāremata hei Mema Māori mō Te Tai Rāwhiti, ā, ko ia te Minita mō ngā Take Māori mai i te 1899 ki te 1912. Kāore ngā pakeke o Hēni i whakaae ki tā rāua moe. Kia ahatia, ka rere te tokorua rā ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara mārena ai ki te tari rēhita. Ka noho rāua ki Tūranga.
I te matenga o tōna whāea i te tau 1887, ka tau te mana ārahi i tōna iwi ki runga ki a Hēni. Ka nui rawa atu tōna tūranga, kīia ai ia ko tētahi o ngā tino rangatira o Tūranganui. I te urunga o tana tāne hei Mema Pāremata, kāore a Hēni i whai i a ia ki Pōneke, ka noho kē ia ki Tūranga. Ahakoa tērā, he rite tonu tana manaaki i ngā mana tōrangapū – tae atu ki a Tā Hōri Kerei – i tō rāua kāinga i Tūranga.
I te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, ka whakahaerehia e Hēni ngā kaupapa mahi moni hei tautoko i ngā hōia Māori kei tāwāhi. Ko te nuinga o ēnei o ana mahi ka kawea e te Rōpū Māori o Te Tai Rāwhiti Āwhina i ngā Take o te Whawhai (Eastern Māori Patriotic Association), he rōpū nā Āpirana Ngata i whakatū. Kāore i mutu tana hurihuri ki ngā kāinga Māori. Me kōrero tana pēnei i te urutā rewharewha o 1918. Ka mahi moni ia mō tētahi whare ruruhau mō te hunga taitamariki, ka tū ki runga i tētahi pito whenua nāna i tuku. Ka tapaina anō te whare nei ki tōna ingoa. Ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te Tohu o te Emepaea o Peretānia (OBE). Ka mate a Hēni Materoa-Carroll i te tau 1930.
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