Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (16 June 1906 – 18 May 1966) was the fifth Māori King. He was the elder son of the fourth Māori King,

Te Rata Mahuta Te Rata Mahuta (1884 – 1 October 1933) was the fourth Māori King Movement, Māori King, reigning from 1912 to 1933. Biography Te Rata was the eldest son of the third king, Mahuta Tāwhiao, Mahuta, and Te Marae, daughter of the fighting ch ...

, and Te Uranga Matai of the Ngāti Korokī tribe. He was named Korokī after the ancestor of his mother's tribe.

Biography

Korokī was born at Waahi, Huntly, on 16 June 1906. He had a younger brother Taipu, who died in 1924, shortly after arriving at Wesley College. Korokī had a relationship with Te Paea Raihe, probably in the 1920s, and they had two daughters. In about 1930 Te Puea Herangi arranged for him to marry her niece Te Atairangikaahu, the daughter of her brother Wanakore Herangi. Te Atairangikaahu had a daughter, Piki, born in 1931. They adopted a son,

Robert Mahuta Sir Robert Te Kotahi Mahuta (26 April 1939 – 1 February 2001) was a prominent Māori politician. He was born Robert Jeremiah Ormsby and changed his name by deed poll. Mahuta was the first Māori leader to negotiate a satisfactory compens ...

, in 1939. Korokī and his family lived at Waahi. Korokī's father died on 1 October 1933, when Korokī was just 24. He was chosen to succeed his father as king and accepted reluctantly. He was crowned on 8 October 1933, the day of his father's funeral. In his first few years as king, he was closely supervised by his father's brothers Tumate and

Tonga Mahuta Tonga Mahuta (c. 1897 – 13 March 1947) was a New Zealand tribal leader. He was the fourth surviving son of Mahuta, the third Māori King, and a younger brother of the fourth king, Te Rata. He belonged to the Ngati Mahuta iwi of the Waikato co ...

, and Haunui Tawhiao, brother of his grandfather King Mahuta. Two of his main confidants and supporters were Pei Te Hurinui Jones and Piri Poutapu. In 1953, he was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

. On 30 December 1953 he received Queen Elizabeth II when she called at his official residence at Tūrangawaewae marae at Ngāruawāhia during the coronation tour. He died at Ngāruawāhia on 18 May 1966 and was buried on Mount Taupiri on 23 May. He was succeeded by Piki, who was given her mother's name of Te Atairangikaahu at her coronation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahuta, Koroki Māori monarchs 1906 births 1966 deaths Ngāti Mahuta people Waikato Tainui people People from Huntly, New Zealand