5 Mori Leaders Who Shaped Aotearoas/New Zealands History
The opposition between the Mori, the original inhabitants of Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the Pkeh, the European newcomers, has been central to New Zealands recent history. Some Mori chiefs were open to dialogue with the Europeans and even fought alongside them. However, others, like Te Whiti, chose the path of passive resistance, sabotaging settlers machinery and fences and disrupting their crops. Others, such as Te Heuheu Tkino IV, decided to collaborate with the Europeans to protect their sacred lands.1. Hne Pkai Heke: The Warrior From the Bay of IslandsBay of Islands, where Hne Heke was born, photograph by Linde Lanjouw, 2020. Source: UnsplashHne Hekes name is synonymous with both the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti o Waitangi), the founding document of New Zealand, and the Northern War against British settlers. By 1840, when the Treaty was signed, Hne Pkai Heke (1807-1850) was an influential and well-respected leader. Born in 1807 in Pkaraka in the Bay of Islands on the east coast of the North Island, he was a member of the Ngpuhi iwi (tribe), today the largest and most influential tribe in New Zealand, and a descendant of Rhiri.From 1824 to 1825 Heke attended the mission school in Kerikeri, after his village was attacked and sacked by a Ngti Whtua war party. He embraced Christianity and acquired even more mana (force/authority) after marrying Hariata Rongo, the daughter of a respected leader and warrior Hongi Hika (1772-1828), and his senior wife Turikatuku, in March 1837. Hekes first wife, Ono, daughter of Ngpuhi leader Te Pahi, had died two years earlier.Hne Heke wearing a flax clock with his wife Hariata at his left side, watercolor by Joseph Jenner Merrett, 1845. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn 1840, Hne Heke was the first of the 45 northern Mori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, as he believed that an alliance between the Mori and the Pkeh could benefit both. Over the years, however, Heke became increasingly disillusioned with the Treaty, and his name became linked to the Northern Wars (also known as Flagstaff Wars). In 1844, he ordered the cutting down of the British flagpole on Maiki Hill at the north end of the Russell settlement (known among the Mori as Kororreka).In the 1840s, Russell was a major ship-provisioning and trading center, as well as the fifth-largest town in New Zealand. Hekes right-hand man, Te Haratua, chopped down the flagpole on July 8, 1844. It was cut down a second time on January 10, 1845, this time by Heke himself. Finally, on March 11, 1845, Heke and a hundred Ngpuhi warriors launched an attack on the settlement.James Busbys Residence, now known as Treaty House, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Source: Tauranga Heritage CollectionFar from desiring harm or death upon European settlers, Hekes men aimed to pressure the British into honoring the Treaty of Waitangi and respecting Mori chiefly authority (rangatiratanga), customs, and lands. Eventually, British forces, with the support of a group of Mori tribes, bombarded, sacked, and looted Kororreka.Heke wrote and sent letters and petitions first to Colonial Governor Robert FitzRoy and then to his successor, George Grey. His prestige grew in time, even when he fell sick with tuberculosis. He was particularly close to Grey, as his letters suggest, despite the differences that had divided them in the past.Heke died on August 6, 1850. The missionary Richard Davis from Kaikohe, who had been close to him in the last months of his life, conducted Hekes funeral service before Hekes body was buried secretly at Pkaraka. The burial ground, called Kaungarapa, was where other tribal leaders had been laid to rest in the past.2. Te Wherowhero: The First Mori KingTe Wherowhero, watercolor by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia CommonsHne Heke was the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Ptatau Te Wherowhero (1800-1860) was the first to be crowned and anointed King of the Kngitanga in 1858. He belonged to the Ngti Mahuta Tribe and was a descendant of the captains of the Tainui and Te Araw canoes. He was born in the Waikato region, in the upper North Island, a region that he fiercely defendedsometimes unsuccessfullyagainst the repeated attacks of Hongi Hika, chief of the musket-armed Ngpuhi Tribe, during the so-called Musket Wars.During the four-decades-long intertribal conflict, Te Wherowhero became a respected and feared warrior and leader among the Mori population of the North Island. He defended the Mtakitaki village (p) in May 1822, even single-handedly at one point, as his people fled, terrified by the new weapons of the Ngpuhi.The Waikato region, where Wherowhero was born, photograph by Petra Reid. Source: UnsplashIn 1823, he finally made peace with the Ngpuhi Tribe. As his people began to return to their homes, Te Wherowheros brother, Kati, cemented the peace by marrying a woman of the Ngpuhi, Matire Toha. In 1828, Te Wherowheros daughter, Tria, married trader J.R. Kent (known among Mori as Amukete), and muskets finally reached warriors in the Waikato territory.In the mid-1830s, the first missionaries arrived in the region. Te Wherowhero was never baptized, but he was often seen attending church services. In March 1840, he was one of the northern chiefs who refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi. When Governor William Hobson passed away in 1842, Te Wherowhero decided to write directly to Queen Victoria. He wanted to suggest the kind of man his people believed should replace Hobson.Queen Victoria in mourning with a portrait of Prince Albert, 1862. Source: National Portrait GalleryIn 1849, he made a vow and signed an agreement to defend and provide military protection for the city of Auckland. He placed the city under his tapu, making it a sacred place that should not be violated. As a gesture of thanks, the government built a house for him in Auckland.In offering his advice to the Queen and then swearing to protect Auckland (and the tribes of the Auckland isthmus), Te Wherowhero was making a strategic, as well as symbolic, move. On one hand, he was protecting his lands and his people from the threat of physical and cultural alienation. On the other, he was asserting his peoples right to participate in the management of their lands alongside the British.Auckland, photograph by Sulthan Auliya, 2020. Source: UnsplashIn June 1858, he was crowned King of the Mori at Ngruawhia. Several chiefs supported his coronation. As the leader of the Kngitanga (Mori King Movement), his mission was to unite the northern tribes, to be the eye of the needle through which the white, black and red threads must pass, as he declared in his speech of acceptance.Te Wherowhero never intended to threaten the sovereignty of Queen Victoria and was willing to consult with the government. However, British encroachment on Mori lands forced him to oppose the governor, especially his plans to acquire land and build a road connecting Auckland to Wellington. Ptatau Te Wherowhero died at Ngruawhia, where he had been crowned king, on June 25, 1860, and was succeeded by his son, King Twhio.3. Twhiao: King and ProphetKing Twhiao, photograph by George Steel, 1847. Source: Christchurch Art GalleryTwhiao (1822-1894) was one of Te Wherowheros sons and the second Mori King. His reign lasted 34 years. For three decades, he guided his people through one of the most violent eras of Mori-Pkeh relations, a time of conflicts, displacement, alienation, land confiscation, settler invasion, and smart diplomacy.In July 1863, the British invaded the Waikato region after crossing the Mangatwhiri stream. Twhiao had made it clear that crossing the Mangatwhiri was tantamount to an act of war, as he had declared the stream an aukati, a boundary marking a prohibited area, a line over which one may not pass, according to the definition provided by Te Aka. After months of battles, in December 1863, the British captured Ngruawhia, the capital where Twhiaos father had been crowned King of the Mori five years earlier.The Taranaki region on the North Island, New Zealand, photograph by Walter Walraven, 2021. Source: UnsplashTwhiao and the Kingite forces were forced to retreat southwards. They fled to Tokangamutu (Te Kuiti) in the territory of the Ngti Maniapoto on the western North Island. Twhiao declared it Te Rohe Ptae (Rohe Ptae o Maniapoto), or, as it has been known ever since, King Country.For 20 years, he governed it as an independent state. During this time, he traveled extensively, meeting with other tribes, particularly the Taranaki, and addressing crowds. His sayings were prophetic and visionary. Baptized as Matutaera (Methuselah) by the Anglican missionary Robert Burrows, Twhiao carefully blended the Scriptures with the stories and customs of his ancestors, particularly the rites of the Tainui priesthood. He foresaw the arrival of a child who would rectify past wrongs by leading his people into a new era for the Mori community. His people embraced his words as a path out of their current suffering and discontent.Settlers in the Taranki region, Thomas Gilbert, 1861. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAfter years of negotiations, Twhiao eventually agreed to lay down his weapons, and his people were finally allowed to return to Waikato. The year was 1881. Overall, they had lost over a million acres to the government and settlers, mainly young families from the British Isles. For Twhiao and his people, this was just the beginning (or rather the continuation) of a new phase of opposition to British encroachment.Twhiao was fundamentally a pacifist. In 1884, he led a group of chiefs to England to petition Queen Victoria to have the Treaty of Waitangi honoured. Without denying the Queens authority, Twhiao requested an independent commission of inquiry into land confiscations and a separate Mori parliament, but to no avail.Group of Mori weeping over a deceased rangatira (chief), painting by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn 1890, he established Te Kauhanganui (now known as Te Whakakitenga), a pan-Mori parliament that would become a rallying force for the tribes of the Kngitanga. He died on August 26, 1894, at Prwera. Thousands of people came for his tangi (or tangihanga) ceremony to pay their respects to the second King of the Mori. He was succeeded by one of his three (recognized) children and eldest son, Mahuta Twhiao (1855-1912).4. Te Whiti: The Pacifist ProphetParihaka village in the Taranaki region, photograph by William Collis, 1900. Source: Museum of Transport and TechnologyLike Twhiao, Te Whiti (1830-1907) was a leader and a prophet. Also known as Te Whiti-O-Rongomai III, today his name is synonymous with the village of Parihaka, on the western coast of the North Island. Some sources suggest that Te Whiti moved there with his family as a child in the 1840s, while others claim he founded the p (village) around 1866.The village, nestled among low hills and close to the Tasman Sea and Mount Taranaki, was situated in a strategic location in the Taranaki region, away from the areas most densely populated by settlers. After just a few years from its foundation, Parihaka was home to about 300 people. The settlement had over 100 whare (houses) and two marae, which are the sacred meeting grounds of the Mori people. By the late 1870s, the population of Parihaka had grown from 300 to 1500.Mori children at Anakoha Native School. Source: Nelson Provincial MuseumAs anger among the European settlers towards Te Whitis leadership grew, so did the commitment of the Mori people to passive resistance against European encroachment and land confiscation. Mori men, women, and children resisted by disrupting the surveyors camps, work, and plowing long furrows in the settlers pastures. In 1879, many of these plowmen were arrested and brought before the court.Two years later, on November 5, 1881, troops of the Constabulary Field Force invaded Parihaka, accompanied by about 1,600 volunteers. Encouraged by Te Whiti, the Mori inhabitants offered no resistance. 2,500 of them had been waiting since midnight, sitting peacefully in their marae at the center of the village.The Parihaka village was built in sight of Mount Taranaki, photograph by Sulthan Auliya, 2022. Source: UnsplashTe Whiti along with two other leaders, Tohu and Titokowaru, were arrested. He was not released until 1883 and was imprisoned again in 1886. Meanwhile, plowing campaigns continued in the Taranaki region.Te Whiti died on February 4, 1907, at Parihaka, eleven months after Tohu. A leader, teacher, prophet, and believer in nonviolent resistance, Te Whiti combined his deep knowledge of Christian scripture with Mori knowledge, myths, and prophecies. Along with Te Wherowhero and Twhiao, who reportedly sent twelve apostles to live at Parihaka in 1866, thus acknowledging the villages role in Mori resistance, he remains one of the greatest Mori leaders of the 19th century.5. Te Heuheu Tkino IV and the Three PeaksMt. Tongariro, one of the three mountains gifted by Te Heuheu to the British Crown, photograph by Long Ling, 2022. Source: UnsplashIn 1846, after his parents died in the massive avalanche of mud that destroyed their village, Te Heuheu Tkino IV (1821-1888) took the name Horonuku, which means landslide in the Mori language. He was born around 1820 on the southwestern side of Lake Taup, on the North Island. His father was Mananui Te Heuheu Tkino II, leader of Ngti Trumakina and paramount chief of the Ngti Twharetoa Tribe, whose lands extend across the central plateau of the North Island, including Lake Taup and Mount Tongariro.The Ngti Twharetoa Tribe claims to be the descendants of Ngtoro-i-rangi, the priest (tohunga) who navigated the Arawa canoe when the ancestors of the Mori sailed to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Te Heuheus name has been linked to Mount Tongariro since 1887.Mt. Ngauruhoe, photograph by Adriel Kloppenburg, 2021. Source: UnsplashThe 1860s and 1870s witnessed an influx of European settlers to the central plateau of the North Island. They constructed fences, engaged in sheep farming, and cultivated crops on lands that for centuries had belonged exclusively to the Ngti Twharetoa. In October 1862, he became paramount chief of Ngti Twharetoa, succeeding Iwikau, his fathers brother, and took the name Te Heuheu Tkino IV. In 1869, government forces invaded the Taup region. Despite support from Twhiao, Te Heuheu, and his followers, were compelled to surrender and flee the region.In 1887, Te Heuheu made a revolutionary move. He gifted the three volcanic peaks of the central North IslandMt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngauruhoe, and Mt. Tongariroto the people of New Zealand, the Mori and the Pkeh, to be preserved as a national park. The government agreed. In September, the Native Minister John Ballance (1839-1893) and Te Heuheu signed the deed.Te Heuheu II and his brother Hiwikau are the first two figures on the left, with Lake Taup in the background, painting by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia CommonsTe Heuheus decision was bold and controversial, even among Mori chiefs. The mountains were sacred to Te Heuheu and his tribe. They were tapu, protected peaks, too sacred to be sold or leased, and thus placed under atua protection, removed from the sphere of the profane and put into the sphere of the sacred, according to the definition of atua provided by Te Aka.By offering the mountains of his ancestors in partnership with the Crown, Te Heuheu ensured that his tribe and his descendants would have a say in the future management of his ancestors mountains. His decision aimed to protect the mountains and ensure his tribes future with one move. At the same time, he was also affirming his mana among neighboring Mori tribes.Te Heuheu died at Waih in late July 1888 and was succeeded by his son, Treiti (1865-1921), who would become the fifth paramount chief of Ngti Twharetoa. Together with Twhiao, his father Te Wherowhero, Te Whiti, Hne Heke, and Te Heuheu have contributed to shaping the history of New Zealand, each in his own way. Their legacy can still be felt today in the national parks of the North Island and in the countrys commitment to honoring the original owners of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
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