Te Wharerahi
Encyclopedia
Te Wharerahi was a highly-respected rangatira
Rangatira
Rangatira are the hereditary Māori leaders of hapū, and were described by ethnologists such as Elsdon Best as chieftains . Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that of other tribes...

 (chief) of the Ipipiri (Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

) area of Aotearoa
Aotearoa
Aotearoa is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand. It is used by both Māori and non-Māori, and is becoming increasingly widespread in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.-Translation:The...

/New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Origins and mana

Aside from other connections, he was Ngati Tautahi. His mother was Te Auparo and his father Te Maoi; his brothers the chiefs Moka 'Kainga-mataa'
Moka 'Kainga-mataa'
Moka Kainga-mataa [Te Kaingamataa/Te Kaingamata/Te Kainga-mata/Te Kainga-mataa] was a Māori rangatira of the Ngā Puhi iwi from Northland in New Zealand...

 and Rewa and sister, Te Karehu. Both Te Auparo and Te Karehu were killed by a Ngare Raumati raiding party and their bodies eaten. The women were working in a keha (turnip) plantation. The war cry "Patukeha" was used when the raupatu was ordered.

Te Wharerahi married Tari, the sister of the Hokianga
Hokianga
Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....

 chiefs Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone , was a Māori rangatira, the son of the Ngati Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not know, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he died....

 and Tamati Waka Nene
Tamati Waka Nene
Tāmati Wāka Nene was a Māori rangatira who fought as an ally of the British in the Flagstaff War.-Origin and mana:...

. Tari, Patuone and Nene were all children of the Ngāti Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. In one sense, the marriage of Te Wharerahi and Tari cemented an alliance between a key hapu
Hapu
A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...

 of the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

 and the Hokianga
Hokianga
Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....

, just as the marriage of Tapua and Te Kawehau had done.

Musket Wars

Te Wharerahi and his two brothers Rewa and Moka 'Kainga-mataa'
Moka 'Kainga-mataa'
Moka Kainga-mataa [Te Kaingamataa/Te Kaingamata/Te Kainga-mata/Te Kainga-mataa] was a Māori rangatira of the Ngā Puhi iwi from Northland in New Zealand...

 participated in the bloody Musket Wars
Musket Wars
The Musket Wars were a series of five hundred or more battles mainly fought between various hapū , sometimes alliances of pan-hapū groups and less often larger iwi of Māori between 1807 and 1842, in New Zealand.Northern tribes such as the rivals Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua were the first to obtain...

 of the 1820s-1830s, which caused wholesale destruction across the North Island; resulting in numerous deaths, imprisonment, and the displacement of a large number of people. Te Wharerahi took part in numerous battles, such as Mokoia, Te Totara, and Matakitaki. (Elder, 1932, p. 342; & Percy Smith, 1910, pp. 218–343).

Role and stance on the Treaty of Waitangi

Te Wharerahi and his two brothers were original signatories to the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand
Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand
In New Zealand political and social history, the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand , was signed by a number of Māori chiefs in 1835, proclaimed the sovereign independence of New Zealand prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840....

 signed at Waitangi on October 28, 1835, which guaranteed the Māori chiefs their sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

 with this document being officially recognised by the Crown in 1836. A few years later, the Crown could see the benefits to the British Empire in gaining sovereignty over these islands and in 1839, would decide to attempt to annex New Zealand. The Crown decided to achieve this by introducing a new document which would in effect, revoke the Declaration of Independence.

Captain William Hobson
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson RN was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.-Early life:...

 was sent to New Zealand with the express aim, of ensuring that this was achieved and arrived in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

 aboard the HMS Herald on January 29, 1840. A week later, on February 5, 1840, the three brothers attended a large hui
Hui (Maori assembly)
A hui is a New Zealand term for a social gathering or assembly.Originally a Māori language word, it was used by Europeans as early as 1846 when referring to Māori gatherings - but is now increasingly used in New Zealand English to describe events that are not exclusively Māori....

 at Waitangi
Waitangi
Waitangi is the name of various places, towns, and settlements in New Zealand. The two most notable of these are:* Waitangi, Northland* Waitangi, Chatham Islands...

 (400 people) where they had an opportunity to speak publicly about the agreement which would become known as the Tiriti o Waitangi or Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....

. Rewa and Moka vigorously opposed the signing, whilst Te Wharerahi sided with the Crown.

Rewa informed Hobson that they didn't need the Crown as they were their own rulers, they held sovereignty over New Zealand, and told Hobson to go back to England. Moka then addressed Hobson and questioned him about the proclamation that he was witness to at the Christ Church on 30 January 1840 and doubted Hobson's ability to effectively enforce Crown control. Moka then publicly challenged the Reverend Charles Baker
Charles Baker
Charles Baker or Charlie Baker may refer to:*Charles Baker , executed English Jesuit priest*Charles Baker , North American surveyor and jurist...

 as to the land Baker had acquired and after receiving what he believed to be an unsatisfactory or unconvincing answer, accused the Europeans of being deceitful.

Later in the proceedings, "...Wharerahi, one of the most important and senior of the northern alliance chiefs, and older brother of Rewa and Moka...now spoke in support of it [Treaty]....He was the first chief to appeal to the idea that having the governor would assist in the creation of peace between the tribes..." (Phillipson, 2004, p. 247). Wharerahi said: "Is it not good to be in peace? We will have this man as our Governor. What! turn him away! Say to this man of the Queen, Go back! No, no." (Colenso, 1890, p. 23). According to Salmond (1997) '...this speech by a very powerful rangatira marked a shift in opinion at the hui.' (Phillipson, 2004, p. 247). Hokianga chiefs; Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone , was a Māori rangatira, the son of the Ngati Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not know, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he died....

 and his brother Tamati Waka Nene
Tamati Waka Nene
Tāmati Wāka Nene was a Māori rangatira who fought as an ally of the British in the Flagstaff War.-Origin and mana:...

, would join Wharerahi and show their support toward the Crown, by arguing for them to remain in New Zealand.

The following day, a number of chiefs including Te Wharerahi, decided to sign the Treaty and although Rewa held reservations, eventually he too would sign. However, it appears as though Moka refused to sign this document on principle.

There are a number of interesting dynamics here; Te Wharerahi was brother-in-law to Tamati Waka Nene
Tamati Waka Nene
Tāmati Wāka Nene was a Māori rangatira who fought as an ally of the British in the Flagstaff War.-Origin and mana:...

 and Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone
Eruera Maihi Patuone , was a Māori rangatira, the son of the Ngati Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not know, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he died....

 (both of which wished for peace) whilst there is a suspicion that Rewa and Moka may have been close to the Bishop Pompallier
Jean Baptiste Pompallier
Jean Baptiste François Pompallier was the first vicar apostolic to visit New Zealand. He was born in Lyon, France. He became the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Appointment and voyage:...

, who spoke against the signing of the Treaty to some of the Māori chiefs. William Colenso
William Colenso
William Colenso was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician.-Life:Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he was the cousin of John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal...

, the CMS missionary printer, in his record of the events of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....

gives an example of Bishop Pompallier's activities with a statement of the chief Te Kemara, when he signed the Treaty: “[a]fter some little time Te Kemara came towards the table and affixed his sign to the parchment, stating that the Roman Catholic bishop (who had left the meeting before any of the chiefs had signed) had told him "not to write on the paper, for if he did he would be made a slave."
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