Hariata Rongo Hongi (1812 - 1894)

Born 1812 in Pukepoto, Far North, Northland, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of Hōne Heke — married 30 Mar 1837 in Kerikeri, Far North, Northland, New Zealand

Died 8 Jan 1894 at about age 82 in Kaikohe, Northland, New Zealand

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Biography

Hariata "Rongo" Hongi was the daughter of Venerable Ngapuhi Chief, Hongi Hika and his Senior wife, Turikatuku. Rongo was her birth name and Hariata (or Harriet) was her baptism name (Christian name). She was born around 1812. Artist Augustus Earle described Rongo in 1827 as "a very pretty, interesting girl about 15 years of age." About the same time, Rongo was nursing her ailing father and did so until his death in March 1828. ^[1]

Rongo's school Slate discovered 169 years later

She afterwards attended the Mission School for Maori Girls started by Martha Clarke at Kerikeri. Amazingly, "Rongo's Slate" was discovered in June 2000 under the floor of the Mission House lean-to by Fergus Clunie, heritage adviser to the NZ Historic Places Trust. The New Zealand Herald reported that on the slate, "scribed in flowing copperplate writing, are the words - Na Rongo Hongi, C 16 (belonging to Rongo Hongi aged 16)". The article further stated that, Rongo's slate was found just outside what was then the back window of the Mission House dining room, a few metres from where the girls took their lessons, where it has clearly been since the lean-to floor was put down 169 years ago.^[2]

Augustus Earles estimate of about 15 years of age in 1827, as well as the age 16 written on Rongo's slate in 1828 indicates that 1812 was her birth year.

On 30 March 1837, aged 25 years, Rongo married Ngapuhi Chief, Hone Heke Pokai, in the Kerikeri Chapel, Kerikeri, Northland. Hone's biographer Freda Kawharu described Hariata as being a "forceful character, inheriting much of her father's drive and self-confidence; she brought her own mana to the relationship."^[3]Heke died on 6 August 1850 of Tuberculosis. Hariata was 38-years-old by this stage.

She later married Arama Karaka Pi, a Chief from Waima, Hokianga. She outlived him also.

Hariata Hongi passed away on 8 January 1894 at Kaikohe. A newspaper as far away as the Feilding Star printed the following; Hariata Hongi, a famous Maori Chieftainess, daughter of Hongi, the famous Ngapuhi Chief, and widow of the celebrated Hone Heke, rebel leader in the northern war of 1845—46, died at Kaikohe yesterday.^{[4] [5][6]}She was 82 years of age.

Sources

1. ↑ 'Schoolgirl's slate links back to the deeds of Hone Heke', New Zealand Herald, 30 June, 2000, 3:24pm https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=125342
2. ↑ New Zealand Herald 30 June, citation above
3. ↑ Freda Rankin Kawharu. 'Heke Pokai, Hone Wiremu', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1h16/heke-pokai-hone-wiremu (accessed 4 October 2018)
4. ↑ FEILDING STAR, VOLUME XV, ISSUE 210, 10 JANUARY 1894
5. ↑ 'Death of a Notable Chieftaness', Thames Advertiser, Volume XXVI, Issue 7716, 10 January 1894,https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18940110.2.23
6. ↑ Death place: Kaikohe - Wanganui Herald, VOLUME XXVIII, ISSUE 8370, 10 January 1894