Te Rangihaeata
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Te Rangihaeata ( 1780s – 18 November 1855) was a
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 ...
chief and a nephew of
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 ...
. He played a leading part in the
Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre and the Wairau Incident, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori people, Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and t ...
and the Hutt Valley Campaign.


Early life

Te Rangihaeata, a member of the
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 ...
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. ...
Ngāti Toa, was born at
Kawhia Kawhia Harbour () is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, Ne ...
in about the 1780s. His father was Te Rākaherea, his mother was Waitohi, the elder sister of
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 ...
and an important chief or
ariki An ariki (New Zealand, Cook Islands), ꞌariki ( Easter Island), aliki (Tokelau, Tuvalu), ali‘i (Samoa, Hawai‘i), ari'i (Society Islands, Tahiti), Rotuma) aiki or hakaiki ( Marquesas Islands), akariki (Gambier Islands) or ‘eiki (Tonga) is o ...
, and his maternal grandmother was Parekōwhatu of
Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti ...
. Te Rangihaeata grew up in Te Rauparaha's shadow and became his trusted ally. Te Rangihaeata's sister was Rangi Topeora who was also a chief of Ngāti Toa and signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Kāpiti on 14 May 1840.


Musket wars

Te Rangihaeata rose to prominence during the period of intertribal fighting known as 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 people, Māori between 1806 and 1845, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an inte ...
. In 1819 while raiding the southern North Island the Ngāti Toa attacked Ngāti Apa at Turakina, near Bulls, killing many and taking several high-ranking captives, including Te Pikinga. They took the captives with them as they raided as far south as
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
. As they returned north, they sought peace with Ngāti Apa, and Te Rangihaeata married Te Pikinga to conclude a peace alliance thorough a chiefly marriage. This was the beginning of a long-term association between the two tribes. Arriving back in their own tribal territories the war party found that the Waikato and Ngāti Maniapoto Māori had decided the Ngāti Toa were undesirable neighbours and for a long time a state of war existed between them. Although greatly outnumbered and outgunned, Te Rangihaeata conducted a successful defence until Te Rauparaha was able to use his diplomatic skills to extricate the tribe. This was the beginning of their migration down to the
Paraparaumu Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam. Like other towns in the area, it has a ...
and
Kāpiti Coast Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to: * Kapiti (New Zealand electorate), a former Parliamentary electorate *Kāpiti Coast District, a local government district *Kapiti Island * Kapiti Coast Airport * Kāpiti College *Kāpiti Expressway * Kapiti Fine Food ...
area. They subsequently conquered most of that region and the upper parts of the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
, occupying and claiming ownership of the land by right of conquest. This forcible change of ownership was to be a source of much confusion and conflict when the European settlers arrived and began buying land. There were often at least two sets of putative owners, and the ones who felt they had been dispossessed were often more than willing to sell land they owned but could not occupy. Te Rangihaeata was not initially anti-
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
. He encouraged the whalers and the traders and was prepared to tolerate the missionaries. He valued them for the technology they introduced and the trade goods they were offering. But he quickly recognised that permanent settlers were a different matter, posing a serious threat to the Māori and their traditional ways. Despite that he tried to avoid open conflict.


The Wairau

When in 1843 Arthur Wakefield and the
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
settlers were claiming the Wairau Valley, chiefs Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata visited Nelson and made their position very clear. Te Rangihaeata promised that he would kill any settlers who tried to take his land from him. Despite this they were prepared to follow the Pākehā legal procedures and await the decision of the Land Commissioner,
William Spain William Spain (14 March 1803 – 5 April 1876) was an English lawyer who was appointed in 1841 as a New Zealand Land Claims Commissioner to investigate land purchases from the Māori people by the New Zealand Company. He spent about four years i ...
. It was the Nelson settlers who jumped the gun and sent surveyors to the disputed land. Te Rangihaeata had his men firmly but nonviolently remove them, being scrupulously careful to return to them all their surveying equipment and personal possessions, but burning their thatch huts. The Nelson settlers sent out a party to arrest the two chiefs on a charge of arson. The accidental discharge of a musket precipitated a brief battle, and about a dozen of the settlers were shot. The rest either fled or surrendered to the Māori. Among those captured were Arthur Wakefield and Henry Thompson, the two leaders of the arresting party. Several Māori had been killed, including Te Rongo, one of Te Rangihaeata's wives who was also Te Rauparaha's daughter. The captured settlers were promptly executed in accordance with Māori law and custom. However it was Te Rangihaeata who insisted on it. This incident became known as the Wairau Affray. The subsequent Government enquiry exonerated the Māori and decided that the settlers had acted illegally.


The Hutt Valley

A similar situation arose about three years later in the
Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zea ...
near
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. The settlers were pushing forward aggressively and occupying land that had disputed ownership. Several years of active immigration and the arrival of British Imperial Troops had put the settlers in a much stronger position and much less inclined to tolerate either Māori claims or legal challenges to their occupation of the land. Once again Te Rangihaeata became involved in the resistance, destroying the farms and the possessions of the settlers on disputed land, but not injuring anyone. However, the settlers did not recognise the warning and very soon open warfare broke out: the Hutt Valley Campaign. Had the Māori been united, the subsequent history of New Zealand could have been different. Te Rangihaeata fought the British to a stalemate until the British were able to mobilise the
Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...
and other iwi to oppose him. Additionally, the abduction and dubious arrest of Te Rauparaha did a lot to discourage the Ngāti Toa. They built a strong pā near
Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...
and successfully withstood a British attack. They then retreated to swamps of Poroutawhao, out of reach of the government, and the war was over.


Later life

Te Rangihaeata remained at Poroutawhao until his death from
measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
on 18 November 1855. There are conflicting stories about this period, that he fiercely resisted any Pākehā penetration into the area and, alternatively, that he made his peace with Governor Grey. In his old age he took charge of the government-funded construction of roads in his area.


Legacy

The
Transmission Gully Motorway The Transmission Gully motorway () is a , four-lane motorway north of Wellington, New Zealand; it is part of the State Highway 1 (New Zealand), State Highway 1. Construction began on 8 September 2014, with completion originally scheduled for Apr ...
, opened in 2022, is officially named ''Te Ara Nui o Te Rangihaeata / The Great Path of Te Rangihaeata'' in honour of Te Rangihaeata.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Rangihaeata 1780s births 1855 deaths People from Waikato Deaths from measles Infectious disease deaths in New Zealand Military leaders of the New Zealand Wars Musket Wars Ngāti Toa people 19th-century Māori tribal leaders