Pehimana

Pehimana was the son of Nga Rauru chief Aperahama Tama-i-parea, and was involved with the sale of the Waitotara block

Biography

Pehimana was born to Aperahama Tama-i-parea and his wife Riria Kamuwai around the early 1840s. Under Aperahama Nga Rauru had converted to Christianity and become involved economically with Pākehā settlers. In 1859 Pehimana and Aperahama sold the Waitotara Block to the government.

As Maori-Pakeha conflict escalated in the 1860s, Pehimana and his father became Pai Marire adherents. Aperahama joined other chiefs at Weraroa pa on the Waitotara River, with whom he warned Lieutenant General Duncan Cameron to withdraw his troops south of the Kai Iwi Stream in February 1865. Cameron, however, took the villages of Perekama and Arei-ahi, and Pehimana and Aperahama duly submitted to the government.

Perihama was subsequently employed by British troops as a guide, and in 1866 acted as General Chute’s advisor for the final Taranaki Campaign.

References

* Church, Ian. [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1T7 'Tama-i-parea, Aperahama fl. 1840 - 1882'.] Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 April 2006
* Gordon, W. F. Through the Dense Bush. 1928.