Pōtatau Te Wherowhero

Pōtatau I, Māori King (Pōtatau Te Wherowhero) (circa 1800 – June 25, 1860) was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato tribes, the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known as simply Te Wherowhero and later took the name Pōtatau, becoming known as Pōtatau I after he became king.

His early Life

Pōtatau was born as the son of Te Rauangaanga (Ngati Mahuta), who at the time had just become the principal war chief of the Waikato tribes. His mother, Te Parengaope, was a high chieftainess of the Ngati Koura people. Pōtatau was thus, the descendant of the captains of both the Tainui and Te Arawa "waka" (canoes) which are said to have brought the Māori to New Zealand. Pōtatau grew up in a period of relative peace for the Waikato iwi, but he became heavily involved in the on-going conflict with Ngati Toa under Te Rauparaha.

Having descended from Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto chiefs who had claims of glory such as his father, Te Rauangaonga, Pōtatau himself became a revered battle leader against the Ngati Toa at Kawhia and Ngati Awa in Taranaki.

After enduring attacks from the musket-bearing Ngapuhi, led by Hongi Hika, the Waikato tribes were pushed south. This led to a series of skirmishes between the Waikato and Ngati Toa.

In 1821 Te Wherowhero led a force of Waikato-Maniapoto of 3,000 against Ngati Toa positions. Te Wherowhero received a further 1,500 from allies Whaingaroa (Raglan). This joint force succeeded in capturing a series of Ngati-Toa strongholds.

Early in 1822 the Waikato forces suffered a heavy defeat and Pōtatau was almost killed when he refused to retreat and abandon the body of a slain chieftain. The intervention of Te Rauparaha saved him, but subsequently he had to engage a number of enemy chiefs in single combat. Eventually his own people returned and a negotiated truce ensued. Pōtatau returned to the Waikato in time to take command in an unsuccessful defence of his tribe at Matakitaki (1822) against Ngapuhi, armed with muskets and led by Hongi Hika on their great rampage through the North Island of 1818 to 1823. Eventually Ngapuhi withdrew and the Waikato could re-establish themselves on their tribal land. By the time Ngapuhi re-appeared in the area some ten years later the Waikato had also acquired muskets and could therefore defend themselves successfully.

Te Wherowhero continued and systematically weakened the Ngati-Toa. When Ngati Toa left Kawhia and began their long migration to Taranaki. Te Wherowhero pursued and, although never forced to retreat, incurred large costs, in human life, in sieges which were sometimes unsuccessful. By 1834 Te Wherowhero made peace, this occurred at a time when missionaries were having a greater impact upon iwis in the Waikato. Te Wherowhero himself regularly attended services.

Treaty and influence with Grey

Although Te Wherowhero refused to sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi when asked to he was not opposed to pākehā presence in his areas controlled. Initially Pōtatau favoured the pākehā arrivals in his territory: his daughter, Tiria, married a trader.

Te Wherowhero supported the Colonial government. In 1849 he signed an agreement with the governor, George Grey to provide Auckland with military protection should it become necessary.

In 1844 he hosted a large inter tribal gathering at Remuera. He built a house on the site of today's Auckland Domain and it witnessed many discussions and negotiations concerning the implementation of the Treaty.

Although he never ceded sovereignty to the British Crown, he did have good rapport with early New Zealand governors, especially George Grey who had a cottage built for him in Mangere. In this cottage Grey consulted Te Wherowhero regarding Māori affairs.

The Waikato tribes sold land initially, Te Wherowhero sold some tribal land around Manukau. However in 1846 he protested vehemently about an edict which claimed land not actually occupied and cultivated by Māori as Crown property.

As more settlers came to New Zealand and the Colonial government passed such legislation Te Wherowhero, from the early 1850s, became less friendly to the Pākehā. This can be accredited at least partially due to the nature of these arrivals in the Waikato lands. These people arrived who encroached on Māori tribal lands with sometimes no formal jurisdiction or, consensual purchasing or gifting of the land with which to do so.

Te Wherowhero did not live to see the problems precipitated by these land disputed and the polarised opinions this caused. His people 3 years later faced the Invasion of the Waikato which saw a lot of the good relations and good will destroyed and confiscation of some of the Waikato's most fertile land.

Later life

In the early 1850s, a movement to establish a Māori King developed. This aimed to unite the Māori people and to act as a counterbalance to Queen Victoria. But above all the King Movement wanted to halt the sale and alienation of Māori land by the Pākehā Government.

Coronation

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was selected as King by a meeting of chiefs of the Maori tribes held at Pūkawa on the south-eastern shore of Lake Taupo in 1857. Pōtatau, in his old age, expressed initial reluctance but accepted at the wish of his own tribe Ngati ManiapotoFact|date=February 2007. He was 'erected'^sic [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/W/TeWherowheroPotatauOrPotatauI/TeWherowheroPotatauOrPotatauI/en] as king at Pūkawa in 1857 and installed as king during elaborate ceremonies held at his marae in Ngaruawahia in 1858.

Pōtatau himself wished to continue to work in co-operation with the British Government but many of his followers adopted a much more independent position. Gradually the two sides polarised and grew apart, culminating some five years later in warfare (see Invasion of the Waikato and New Zealand Land Wars)

Death

Pōtatau died in Ngaruawahia on June 25, 1860. He is buried on Mount Taupiri, a mountain close to his royal residence in Ngaruawahia. His son, Matutaera Tawhiao, succeeded him.

External links

* [http://www.zealand.org.nz/images/king2.jpgThe Kings Picture]
* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1T88 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - Te Wherowhero, Potatau]
* [http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/1966/W/TeWherowheroPotatauOrPotatauI/en Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966, Potatau Te Wherowhero]
* [http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/states/oceania/maori.html University of Queensland - Maori Kingitanga]
* [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/node/2119 Kingitanga - The Maori King Movement (NZHistory.net.nz)]