Tama-i-hara-nui (17?? – 1830/1831) or Tamaiharanui, also known as Te Maiharanui, was a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

chief of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

and its Ngāti Rakiāmoa

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

. He was "strong and ruthless" and was a central figure in the 1820s Kai Huānga ("eat relatives") feud within Ngāi Tahu. Tama-i-hara-nui angered

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...

in about 1828 by letting a group of their chiefs into

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimak ...

pā and then killing them.

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha ( – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira, warlord, and chief of the Ngāti Toa iwi. One of the most powerful military leaders of the Musket Wars, Te Rauparaha fought a war of conquest that greatly expanded Ngāti Toa south ...

, one of the Ngāti Toa chiefs who stayed outside of the

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

, returned to Canterbury with a war party on board the ship ''Elizabeth'' in November 1830. The ship anchored off

Takapūneke Takapūneke, with the location also known as Red House Bay, is a former kāinga—an unfortified Māori village—adjacent to present-day Akaroa, New Zealand. Takapūneke was a major trading post for the local iwi (tribe), Ngāi Tahu, as there wa ...

village in

Akaroa Harbour Akaroa Harbour is part of Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. The harbour enters from the southern coast of the peninsula, heading in a predominantly northerly direction. It is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula ...

with the war party hidden. Tama-i-hara-nui was enticed on board with his wife and daughter and they were taken prisoner. He was taken to Ōtaki, where the widows of the chiefs who had been killed at Kaiapoi pā tortured him, and he was killed.

References

Year of birth unknown 1830s deaths Ngāi Tahu people 19th-century Māori tribal leaders {{Māori-bio-stub

See also

References