Tāreha Te Moananui (died 19 December 1880) was a Paramount Chief of the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

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 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 ...

member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1868 to 1870. Born between 1800 and 1810, Tāreha was the son of the great Chief Oneone of Ngāti Rangikamangungu and Hāmene of

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...

. He received the paramountcy and name of Te Moananui following the death of Ngāti Kahungunu leader Kurupō Te Moananui in 1861. Tāreha was known as 'Te Mokopuna a

Tangaroa Tangaroa (Māori; Takaroa in the South Island dialect; cognate with Tagaloa in Sāmoan) is the great atua of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, he exercis ...

', this is due to his families close descent and association with

Pania Pania, often styled "Pania of the Reef", is a figure of Māori mythology, and a symbol of the New Zealand city of Napier. There is a statue of Pania on Napier's Marine Parade. The legend of Pania of the Reef Pania was a beautiful maiden who li ...

and the

Ponaturi In Māori mythology, the Ponaturi are a group of hostile creatures (goblins) who live in a land beneath the sea by day, returning to shore each evening to sleep. They dread daylight, which is fatal to them. They appear in a number of stories, inclu ...

tribe who live in the sea. Because of this the ancestral

Wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

at Waiohiki is called Hau Te Ana Nui, which is also the name of his ancestor Tangaroa's house in the ocean. Tāreha was one of four Māori elected in

1868 Events January * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsu ...

for the new

Māori electorates In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...

in the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

, and he was the first of the four to speak in Parliament. He represented the electorate of

Eastern Maori Eastern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, ...

from 1868 to 1870, when he retired. He died on 19 December 1880, and his tangi and funeral took place at Waiohiki, near Taradale. He had two surviving children, sons Te Roera Tāreha (1850s–1941) and Kurupō Tāreha (1871–1938).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tareha Te Moananui 1800s births 1880 deaths New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Ngāti Kahungunu people People from Hawke's Bay 19th-century New Zealand politicians