Te Pahi (''Tippahee'' in traditional orthography; died 1810) was a

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 ...

tribal leader and traveller from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was from the

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

and lived in the

Rangihoua Bay Rangihoua Bay is a bay at the southern end of the Purerua Peninsula, on the north-west shore of the Bay of Islands in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.367. It is 10 km north across the Ba ...

area of the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

. In 1805, Te Pahi decided to seek out Lieutenant Governor

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...

who, ten years earlier, had visited New Zealand from Norfolk Island. On arrival at Norfolk Island in 1805 Te Pahi found that King was no longer there. The superintendent of the island, Captain Piper, arranged for Te Pahi to continue his journey to

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

where King had become

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

. Te Pahi arrived in Port Jackson on 27 November 1805, and was received as an honoured guest by Captain Philip Gidley King, who presented him with a medal to recognise his visit. It was the first state gift presented to a Māori

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...

. King also presented Te Pahi with a prefabricated brick house which was built in his

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 ...

on Motu Apo Island and was the first permanent European-style house in New Zealand. During the visit, Te Pahi also met

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden w ...

, chaplain of New South Wales. Te Pahi attended church services and discussed religion with Marsden, who formed plans for a Church Missionary Society mission under Te Pahi's protection at Rangihoua. Te Pahi was incorrectly blamed for the burning of the ''Boyd'' incident in 1809 and his pā on Motu Apo was stormed by crew from several whaling ships in retaliation in 1810. The whalers murdered many people, looted the island and destroyed houses, including the medal from King. Te Pahi was wounded in the attack on his island but his death several weeks later was the result of other wounds he received in a conflict with Māori from the

Whangaroa Whangaroa, also known as Whangaroa Village to distinguish it from the larger area of the former Whangaroa County, is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km ...

region over the ''Boyd'' affair. He was succeeded as chief of the Rangihoua Bay area by Ruatara.

Silver medal

The silver medal presented to Te Pahi was commissioned by King, and probably created by Irish silversmith John Austin. The medal was stolen during the raid by the whalers in 1810, and its whereabouts remained unknown until 204 years later, in 2014 when an auction house in Sydney offered it for sale. Ngāpuhi representatives and Te Pahi descendants intervened to try to return the

taonga ''Taonga'' or ''taoka'' (in South Island Māori) is a Māori-language word that refers to a treasured possession in Māori culture. It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in the Treaty of Waitangi significant. The current ...

back to New Zealand, and they negotiated with

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

and the Auckland War Memorial Trust who jointly purchased the medal. Following its purchase at the 2014 auction in Sydney, it was put on display at Te Papa in 2017.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Pahi Year of birth missing 1810 deaths Ngāpuhi people People from the Bay of Islands