Te (Rauparaha) Nohorua (aft. 1760 - 1849)

Born after 1760 in Kāwhia, New Zealand

Died 27 Nov 1849 before age 89 in Rangiatea, Otaki, New Zealand

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Te (Rauparaha) Nohorua came from Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. Join: New Zealand Project Discuss: new_zealand

Te (Rauparaha) Nohorua is Notable.

Biography

"The harbour area was the birthplace of prominent Māori warrior chief Te Rauparaha of the Ngāti Toa tribe, who lived in the area until the 1820s. Kāwhia is known in Māori lore as the final resting-place of the ancestral waka (canoe) Tainui. Soon after arrival, captain Hoturoa made it first priority to establish a whare wananga (sacred school of learning) which was named Ahurei.[4] Ahurei is situated at the summit of the sacred hill behind Kāwhia’s seaside marae – Maketu Marae..." ^[1]

"Te Rauparaha was the son of Werawera, of Ngati Toa, and his second wife, Parekowhatu (Parekohatu), of Ngati Raukawa. He is said to have been a boy when Captain James Cook was in New Zealand. If so, it is likely that he was born in the 1760s. He was born either at Kawhia or at his mother's home, Maungatautari. He was descended from Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe; both his parents were descended from the founding ancestors of their tribes. Although not of the highest rank, he rose to the leadership of Ngati Toa because of his aggressive defence of his tribe's interests and his skill in battle. He was short in stature but of great muscular strength. In profile, he had aquiline features; when excited his eyes would gleam and his lower lip would curl downwards.

His name is derived from an edible plant called rauparaha. Soon after he was born a Waikato warrior who had killed and eaten a relation of his threatened to eat the child as well, roasted with rauparaha leaves; the child was called Te Rauparaha in defiance of this threat. The other name by which he was known during his childhood was Maui Potiki, because he, like Maui Potiki, was lively and mischievous. Much of his childhood was spent with his mother's people at Maungatautari, but he may have been instructed at the whare wananga at Kawhia.

From the late eighteenth century Ngati Toa and related tribes, including Ngati Raukawa, were constantly at war with the Waikato tribes for control of the rich fertile land north of Kawhia...

In 1816 the marriage festivities of Nohorua, Te Rauparaha's older half-brother, and a woman of Ngati Rahiri, turned to disaster when the canoes of Ngati Rahiri carrying a return feast overturned. In fury Ngati Rahiri attacked Ngati Toa. Two Ngati Whatua chiefs, Murupaenga and Tuwhare, from north of present day Auckland, joined Ngati Toa's retaliatory raid into Taranaki about 1818. However, Ngati Rahiri were old allies and peace was made at Te Taniwha pa. As part of the peacemaking, muskets were fired for the first time in Taranaki. Later, Te Rauparaha joined Te Puoho-o-te-rangi of Ngati Tama in attacks on other Taranaki tribes, before returning to Kawhia...

By 1822 the section of the migration of Ngati Toa known as Te Heke Tataramoa, which was to bring them to Kapiti Island, was under way. Joined by some Te Ati Awa, the migration travelled 250 miles through enemy land which Te Rauparaha had raided several years beforeTrouble began when the migration reached the Manawatu River. Canoes were stolen when Nohorua led a foraging expedition. In revenge Ngati Toa attacked a Rangitane settlement and killed several people. The tribes of Manawatu and Horowhenua began to resist. Toheriri of Muaupoko invited Te Rauparaha and his family to a feast near Lake Papa-i-tonga; when night fell Muaupoko began killing them. Te Rauparaha escaped but his son Te Rangi-hounga-riri and daughter Te Uira, and at least one other of his children, were killed. He vowed to kill Muaupoko from dawn until dusk. The lake pa of Muaupoko were taken and they were massacred without mercy...

In the crisis that followed Te Rauparaha stayed on the defensive. There was a reluctance for war among those influenced by the missionary Octavius Hadfield at Otaki. Te Rauparaha had much to lose if he attacked the European settlements. Settlers believed that he intended war and that he had sent for a Wanganui war party to attack Wellington, as Te Ati Awa of Waikanae had refused to do so. The crisis was ended on 12 February 1844 when Governor Robert FitzRoy declared at Waikanae that the settlers had provoked the fighting at Wairau and that although he deplored the killing of the prisoners no further action would be taken. During this crisis Te Rauparaha, by avoiding war with the settlers, contributed greatly to its peaceful resolution.

On 16 May 1846 Te Mamaku, of Wanganui, who had joined Te Rangihaeata in resisting settlement, led an attack on the troops stationed at Almon Boulcott's farm in the Hutt Valley. There were again rumours of an imminent assault on Wellington. The new governor, George Grey, decided that Te Rauparaha could not be trusted and must be arrested. He visited him at his Taupo pa, near Porirua, and then left on the naval vessel Driver. Two hours before dawn the ship returned and British troops took Te Rauparaha on board. He was held without charge on another naval vessel, the Calliope, for 10 months and then allowed to live in Auckland. On his petition to the governor he was returned to his people at Otaki in 1848. He was accompanied on the return voyage by George and Eliza Grey, and by numerous Maori, including Potatau Te Wherowhero.

Te Rauparaha lived at Otaki for the brief remainder of his life, although he visited Wairau. By the end of his life his influence appears to have declined, possibly because of the humiliation of his imprisonment. His wives in the last part of his life were Pipikutia, Kahukino and Kahutaiki. He had had 8 wives in the course of his life, and 14 children, some of whom survived him. He did not adopt Christianity, although he attended church services. Te Rauparaha died on 27 November 1849 and was buried near the church, Rangiatea, in Otaki. He is believed to have been reinterred on Kapiti.

Te Rauparaha was a great tribal leader. He took his tribe from defeat at Kawhia to the conquest of new territories in central New Zealand. As a war leader he enjoyed great success. The tribes he defeated attribute his success to Ngati Toa's possession of muskets rather than to Te Rauparaha's military genius. Without his leadership, however, it is doubtful if Ngati Toa would have attempted the great migration and seized the opportunities open to them. Having done so, they changed the tribal structure of New Zealand for ever." ^[2]

"A few minutes' walk north is also the sacred Tangi te Korowhiti, where a grove of pohutukawa trees pinpoints the waka’s landing point... Kawhia’s Ocean Beach is the best place to be when the tide is low; dig a hole in the black sand and soak in the hot water that bubbles to the surface. Te Puia Springs as they are known locally are one of the best North Island attractions, yet they remain a true hidden gem. They can be accessed via Karewa beach, tucked into the south side of Kawhia, or by a short climb through the sand hills from the car park at the end of the forestry road." ^[3]

"This portrait depicts the blended family of Wiremu Neera (later contracted to Wineera) Te Kanae, great-grandson of celebrated warrior chief Te Rauparaha, and his two wives, sisters Harata and Hāna Kuti Te Kanawa, or Cootes... The origins of the Wineera Family - Descended from Greatness..." ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "Kāwhia Harbour'"
2. ↑ "Teara.govt.nz - 'Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: 'Te Rauparaha'"
3. ↑ "HamiltonWaikato: 'Kawhia'"
4. ↑ "Museum of New Zealand: 'Wineera family portrait : A picture tells a thousand words'"