Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa ( – 27 December 1866), generally known as Wiremu Tamihana, was a leader of the Ngāti Hauā Māori

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

in nineteenth century

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and is sometimes known as the kingmaker for his role in the

Māori King Movement The Māori King Movement, called the in Māori, is a movement that arose among some of the Māori (tribes) of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the British c ...

Early life

Tarapipipi Te Waharoa, later known as Wiremu Tamihana, was born around 1805 at

Tamahere Tamahere is a locality (located on a semi-rural ward that bears the same name) within Waikato District, New Zealand; on the outskirts of Hamilton. The majority of the Ward is zoned as Country Living, with a minimum lot size of 0.5ha. The la ...

on the Horotiu plains, the son of the Māori chief Te Waharoa and Rangi Te Wiwini. His father was the leader of the tribe Ngāti Hauā, which settled the area along the Waikato River near Horotiu as far east as the

Kaimai Range The Kaimai Range (sometimes referred to as the ''Kaimai Ranges'') is a mountain range in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of a series of ranges, with the Coromandel Range to the north and the Mamaku Ranges to the south. The Kaimai R ...

s. In his youth he fought in several expeditions that took place in the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

and

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

as part of the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms rac ...

. In 1835, Tarapipipi met Reverend A. N. Brown, who had set up a Church Mission Society (CMS) station near the Matamata '' pā''. He was taught to read and write in the Māori language and soon would become a key communicator for his father. He was still from time to time engaged in outbreaks of intertribal warfare, particularly against

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Rotorua region, he intervened to ensure the safety of two missionaries during the destruction of the CMS station at Ohinemutu by the Te Arawa tribe Ngāti Whakaue, with whom Ngāti Hauā was fighting. The conflict at this time led to Brown abandoning the CMS station at Matamata and shifting to Tuaranga but he continued to influence Tarapipipi with his Christian teachings.

As chief

Wiremu Tamihana sitting, photograph by John Kinder

Following the death of his father in September 1838, Tarapipipi became a leader of Ngāti Hauā despite being the second oldest son. He quickly stamped his authority as chief, when he resisted efforts by his tribe to carry out raids against Te Arawa. In October 1838, wielding a bible and referring to Christian ideals, he made an impassioned plea at a hui of Tauranga and Ngāti Hauā Māori against war with Te Arawa. His efforts prevented a major battle between the tribes although there some isolated fighting. Soon after taking over as chief of Ngāti Hauā, Tarapipipi had founded a new ''pā'' near Matamata, naming it Te Tapiri with rules based on the

ten commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

. By the following year, there were 300 people living at Te Tapiri, which now included a chapel and a school. By this time, Tarapipipi had converted to Christianity, being baptised by Brown at Tauranga and given the Christian name Wiremu Tamihana, which translates to William Thompson. The replacement church was capable of holding up to a thousand people. There is no doubt Tamihana was a highly intelligent man with a creative mind keen to learn from the British. He also taught in a school, established farming in his community, and traded produce to

Pākehā settlers Pākehā settlers were European emigrants who journeyed to New Zealand, and especially to the Auckland, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Canterbury and Otago regions during the 19th century. The ethnic and occupational social composition of these New Z ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. Another Christian community was founded in 1846 at Peria. He sold many acres of his tribal land that was swampy to the Scottish Morrin brothers who hired Irish navvies to dig ditches and drain the land and turn it into some of the most fertile dairy land in New Zealand. In the late 1850s, Tamihana was largely responsible for the establishment of the

, which aimed to unify rebel Māori by setting up a kingship in opposition to the British government. He was able to persuade several iwi to join the movement, and Potatau Te Wherowhero of

Ngāti Mahuta Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe (or hapū) of the Waikato tribe (or iwi) of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region. History Ngāti Mahuta is descended ...

to take on the role of first King. Tamihana provided a statement of laws, based on the Bible. Although the movement was seen by many Pākehā and the government as rebellion, Tamihana intended that the Māori King would be in alliance with

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. Tamihana became a diplomat and publicist for the movement, founding a Māori language newspaper for it. In 1861

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Thomas Gore Browne Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne, (3 July 1807 – 17 April 1887) was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda. Early life Browne was born o ...

issued a declaration demanding Māori submission to the British Crown. Tamihana wrote to him explaining that the King Movement was not in conflict with the Queen but refused to swear the oath of allegiance. He expressed concern that the Governor seemed intent on war but failed to see the implications of rebellion. Later, he wrote a series of 14 threatening letters to Grey who realised that Tamihana was backed by the fierce Rewi Maniapoto. When war did break out, after the killing of 7 British soldiers in a time of peace in Taranaki and the attempted murder of Gorst, a government agent at Te Awamutu, Tamihana remained in favour of negotiation, but others within the King Movement, such as Rewi Maniapoto preferred to fight. Throughout the Invasion of the Waikato Tamihana attempted to negotiate with government forces, to little effect. After the war he campaigned against the resultant confiscation of land.

Later life and legacy

Wiremu Tamihana standing, photograph by John Kinder

In 1865 the

Pai Mārire The Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was a syncretic Māori religion founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumēne. It flourished in the North Island from about 1863 to 1874. Pai Mārire incorporated biblical and Māori spiritua ...

movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was active on the Eastern Bay of Plenty and at Opotiki on 2 March shot, hanged and decapitated the German-born Rev.

Carl Sylvius Völkner Carl Sylvius Völkner ( – 2 March 1865) was a German-born Protestant missionary in New Zealand who was hanged and decapitated at his church grounds on the east coast of the North Island in what became known as the Völkner Incident. Biograp ...

. Following the so-called Völkner Incident, Tamihana separated himself from the Pai Mārire movement and returned to his land. Tamihana became ill in July 1866 but despite this continued to play a role in tribal matters. He intervened in disputes between Tauranga Maori and surveyors and attend hearings at the Native Land Court. He died at Turanga-o-moana, near Peria, on 27 December 1866. By 1873, Waikato rebels had 120,000 acres of land returned and in 1926 and 1946 were paid large sums of cash annually as full and final payment for land. Tamihana's iwi Ngāti Hauā were keen land sellers and this later bought them into conflict with Ngāti Maniapoto over the issue of land ownership or mana whenua. Tupu Taingakawa was one of Tamihana's sons. Tamihana continues to be recognised today, with the NZ Herald naming him one of the 10 greatest New Zealanders of the past 150 years and the new main connector road between SH21 (Airport Road) and Devine Road running along the public reserve in the heart of Tamahere bears his name : Wiremu Tamihana Drive.

Notes

External links

Morrin Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamihana, Wiremu 1805 births 1866 deaths People of the New Zealand Wars Ngāti Hauā people