Background

The following are snippets from searches in http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/ (Dictionary of New Zealand Biography) of names in the whakapapa.

Te Ao-kapurangi fl. 1818 - 1830

Te Ao-kapurangi was born probably in the late eighteenth century. One of her parents was Pare-puwhenua and the other possibly Te Whangongo. Descended from Tama-te-kapua of Te Arawa canoe and from Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe, she was a woman of mana, who belonged to Ngati Rangiwewehi and Tapuika hapu. Her two brothers, Te Kohuru and Te Waro, were considered to be most sacred tohunga. Te Ao-kapurangi's first husband was Rauru of Tapuika. They had two sons: the elder was Tarakawa-te-ipu, whose son Takaanui Tarakawa left a record of her life; the younger son was Te Hihiko, later baptised Hone...

Taraia Ngakuti Te Tumuhuia ? - 1872

From the early 1820s Taraia and his people made great efforts to arm themselves with muskets and powder to resist Nga Puhi raids. By 1830 they were so well armed with muskets that they were able to trade them to others for pigs, flax fibre or slaves. Tensions grew among the many independent sections of the Maru-tuahu confederation - four tribes who shared descent from Maru-tuahu, son of Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe...

Te Rauparaha ? - 1849

Te Rauparaha was the son of Werawera, of Ngati Toa, and his second wife, Parekowhatu (Parekohatu), of Ngati Raukawa. He is said to have been a boy when Captain James Cook was in New Zealand. If so, it is likely that he was born in the 1760s. He was born either at Kawhia or at his mother's home, Maungatautari. He was descended from Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe; both his parents were descended from the founding ancestors of their tribes. Although not of the highest rank, he rose to the leadership of Ngati Toa because of his aggressive defence of his tribe's interests and his skill in battle. He was short in stature but of great muscular strength. In profile, he had aquiline features; when excited his eyes would gleam and his lower lip would curl downwards.

His name is derived from an edible plant called rauparaha. Soon after he was born a Waikato warrior who had killed and eaten a relation of his threatened to eat the child as well, roasted with rauparaha leaves; the child was called Te Rauparaha in defiance of this threat. The other name by which he was known during his childhood was Maui Potiki, because he, like Maui Potiki, was lively and mischievous. Much of his childhood was spent with his mother's people at Maungatautari, but he may have been instructed at the whare wananga at Kawhia.

From the late eighteenth century Ngati Toa and related tribes, including Ngati Raukawa, were constantly at war with the Waikato tribes for control of the rich fertile land north of Kawhia. The wars intensified whenever a major chief was killed or insults and slights suffered. Te Rauparaha was involved in many of these incidents as tensions mounted. He led a war party into disputed territory north of Kawhia and the Waikato chief Te Uira was killed. On another occasion he led a war party by canoe to Whaingaroa (Raglan Harbour) to avenge the killing of a group of Ngati Toa; his nieces had been among the victims. Young warriors gathered around him as he was an aggressive war leader...

Oliver, Steven. 'Te Rauparaha ? - 1849'.  Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 16 December 2003
URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/

Hone Wetere Te Rerenga was born, probably in the 1830s, at Maniaroa or Rangitoto in the Awakino district. His father was Waitara, a direct descendant of Hoturoa and Maniapoto...

Paipai, also known as Kawana Pitiroi Paipai, was born near the end of the eighteenth century. He had connections with Ngati Ruaka and other hapu of Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi. His father, who died in 1847, was Tawhiti-o-rangi, the son of Te Rae-tara-naki (Raikaranaki). His mother's name was Haukopata (Te Hau Kopatu). Paipai is known to have had three wives. Kohe was the mother of Hori Kerei, who was born about 1826. On 4 March 1844, at Putiki Wharanui, near the mouth of the Wanganui River, Paipai married Wairere. She died three years later, in December 1847. On 22 April 1850, also at Putiki, he married Roka Kuao, the widow of Turakina...

Henare, Manuka. 'Wahanui Huatare ? - 1897'.

Wahanui Huatare, also known as Reihana Te Huatare, Te Reihana Whakahoehoe and Te Wahanui, was born probably in the late 1820s. He was the son of Te Ngohi-te-arau, also known as Te Huatare, of Ngati Maniapoto. His mother, Tarati, belonged to Ngati Waiora of Mokau and came from the Piopio area. Wahanui was raised in the upper Waipa valley. He could trace his descent to Raka, Hotunui and Turongo.

'Nahe, Hoani 1833/1834? - 1894

By his own account Hoani Nahe was born at the time the mission house at Parawai (near Thames) was being built. This was probably in 1833 or 1834. His birthplace may have been at Te Poho, near the Kirikiri Stream. His father was Patara Te Rangiteapake of Ngati Maru, also known as Patara Paki, and his mother was Riripeti (Lillibeth) or Rohu of Ngati Whanaunga. His principal tribe was Ngati Maru, and his hapu were Ngati Hauauru, Ngati Te Aute and Ngati Kotinga; but he could trace his descent through all five sons of Maru-tuahu, the ancestor of Ngati Maru, thus making him kin to all the principal Hauraki tribes. He also had links to Ngatoroirangi of Te Arawa canoe, and to Takitimu...

Nahe's history began with the building of the Tainui canoe in Hawaiki, its arrival in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and the events associated with Hotunui, his son Maru-tuahu, and the establishment of their descendants at Hauraki, in the Coromandel Peninsula and the Thames district. A large section concerned the wars between Nga Puhi and the Hauraki tribes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, culminating in the musket-armed attacks by Nga Puhi on Hauraki in 1821. Nahe was always very bitter about the fall of Te Totara pa, deeming it to be a treacherous attack made after Ngati Maru had negotiated a peace in return for the famous greenstone mere, Te Uira. Late in life he was still hoping for the mere's return. His history concluded with the period when Ngati Maru took refuge at Horotiu (Cambridge), provoking battles with Ngati Paoa and other tribes. In a separate section Nahe narrated the life of the eponymous ancestor, Paoa.

Hoani Nahe retired from politics in 1879. He had lived at various times at Shortland (part of present day Thames) and Parawai, but from this time he lived on his farm at Omahu, near Puriri. He remained influential in his community. With his cousin Wirope Hoterini Taipari and Hori Matene he gave land for a native school at Mataiwhetu, Kirikiri, and took an active part in getting it established. In 1886 he and Hori Matene planned and supervised the building of a new church at Parawai. (see Elizabeth)

http://www.acconz.org.nz/thames_coc.php "A meeting was first held in Thames in 1880. Then in 1882 a series of lectures on Conditional Immortality and related subjects were delivered in the Oddfellows' Hall. So began the Thames Church of Christ. The church grew and in 1884 the meetings were moved to a hall that had previously been the Munster Hotel. "

Te Taniwha, Tukumana   1862/1863? - 1941
Ngati Maru and Ngati Whanaunga leader, historian

Tukumana was born in the Thames district probably in 1862 or 1863. He was the son of Reihana Poto of Ngati Maru, and Karukino Te Taniwha of Ngati Puku and Te Mateawa hapu of Ngati Whanaunga. ... His maternal grandfather, Te Horeta Te Taniwha, was an important influence in his life...

Although Ngati Whanaunga reside predominantly at Moehau (Coromandel Peninsula), a few of their subtribes live at Waimango in the Wharekawa district, on the western side of the Firth of Thames; Tukumana lived here and at Kupata, near Thames. According to Tukumana, Wharekawa had been fought over for many years by Ngati Whanaunga and Ngati Paoa. The crew of the Tainui canoe had originally erected an altar there and conducted ceremonies to implant mana, that is, to gain authority and rights to the land. Two descendants of the Tainui crew, Hotunui and his son Maru-tuahu (the ancestors of the Maru-tuahu confederation of tribes) made their home in the Wharekawa district. The rights were maintained by Maru-tuahu, despite challenges by Ngati Paoa. Finally, Ngati Puku (Tukumana's subtribe) took up the cause of maintaining these rights, particularly those of Ngati Whanaunga, who had always maintained a presence at Wharekawa. Tukumana's family had land rights in blocks ranging from the Piako River to Tapapakanga.

Living among tribes that owed nominal allegiance to the King movement, Tukumana was drawn into its affairs. He may have been part of the King movement faction opposed to Pakeha settlement within the Rohe Potae block, and in 1903 he unsuccessfully petitioned the government to exclude his lands from the boundaries of the recently promulgated Waikato district. By 1917 he was a member of the lower house of Te Kauhanganui. He continued in that position until 1920.

In his youth, Tukumana was a gifted student of the histories and traditions of his people. Benefiting from the legacy of Te Horeta, he became an exponent of the traditions of all Maru-tuahu people and of Ngati Whanaunga in particular. In 1925 he began to write down some of his knowledge of Maru-tuahu, prompted by a proposal to shift Hotunui, the great meeting house of the Parehauraki people, to the Auckland Museum in an attempt to preserve it. Tukumana attended a large hui convened at Parawai, near Thames, on 7 March 1925, as spokesman for Ngati Whanaunga. The people agreed that the house needed to be preserved. Parehauraki were not keen to sell the house and agreed to the proposal of the Auckland ethnologist George Graham that Hotunui be shifted to the museum for safe custody on their behalf. The house was eventually transferred to the museum in 1929.

Te Pareihe   ? - 1844
Ngati Te Whatuiapiti leader

Early in the nineteenth century Te Pareihe and his elder brother, Tu-te-iwirau, fought a series of wars against Rangitane in Northern Wairarapa and Southern Hawke's Bay to defend the rights of Ngati Te Whatu-i-apiti to the resources in the latter area. He was wounded in the battle of Mangatoetoe and carried off the field by his relatives. In this battle, fought to avenge the death of their chief, Kaiwaru, Ngati Te Whatu-i-apiti led by Te Ringanohu were defeated by Ngati Te Upokoiri. This was one of a series of battles between these two peoples, who were rivals in a drawn-out struggle for the control of Heretaunga.

The defeat of Ngati Te Whatu-i-apiti at Mangatoetoe was avenged in a battle at Waipukurau called Pukekaihau, in which they were led by Whakarongo and Te Pareihe. After this victory, Te Ringanohu's sister Te Kaihou formally passed the mana over her brother's lands and people to Te Pareihe and Whakarongo. Two years later Ngati Te Upokoiri attacked and over-ran Te Aratipi pa on the coast near Waimarama; in response, Te Pareihe, now a recognised war leader, raised a war party and defeated Ngati Te Upokoiri at Te Matau about 1821.

Völkner, Carl Sylvius   1819 - 1865
Missionary

Carl Sylvius Völkner was born in Kassel, Hesse, Germany, probably in 1819; his parents' names are unknown. Trained at the missionary college at Hamburg, Völkner was one of several missionaries sent to New Zealand by the North German Missionary Society. He arrived in New Zealand in August 1849 and worked initially with fellow German Protestant missionary Johann Riemenschneider, in Taranaki. In 1852 he offered his services to the Church Missionary Society. For several years he worked as a lay teacher in lower Waikato. He married Emma Lanfear probably in 1854, and in 1857 was naturalised. He was ordained deacon in 1860 and priest in 1861.

Völkner took charge of the CMS mission station at Opotiki in August 1861. There he worked among Te Whakatohea, who built a church and a school for him. Völkner's significance lies not so much in his life as a missionary, however, but in his death, at the hands of members of his own congregation, on 2 March 1865.

Despite the outbreak of wars in Taranaki and Waikato, Te Whakatohea had remained peaceful. However, by 1864 they were caught up in the debate over whether the East Coast tribes should give support to the Waikato and Tauranga people. Attempts by the East Coast tribes, including Te Whakatohea, to travel to Waikato via Rotorua early in 1864 were resisted by Te Arawa. When they tried to move westward along the coast, they were repulsed by British troops stationed at Maketu and by naval gunfire, sustaining a large number of casualties. Tohi Te Ururangi, a Te Arawa chief, died of wounds received in the battle at Te Kaokaoroa, near Matata. At his tangi, Te Whakatohea chief Te Aporotanga, who had been taken prisoner by Te Arawa, was shot by Tohi's widow, an act which exacerbated the strained relations between the two tribes.

Te Whakatohea were left vulnerable by the combined effects of the battle at Te Kaokaoroa, the loss of Te Aporotanga's leadership, disruption to food cultivation caused by war, and a typhoid and measles epidemic which killed a quarter of the Opotiki population in late 1864. In mid February 1865 a party of Pai Marire emissaries, led by Kereopa Te Rau and Patara Raukatauri, arrived at Opotiki to carry the teachings of the prophet Te Ua Haumene to the East Coast. Their arrival aggravated existing divisions among Te Whakatohea.

Despite hostilities Völkner had remained at Opotiki, making several visits to Auckland in 1864, and again in January 1865. Ignoring warnings from several members of Te Whakatohea, he returned to Opotiki in February with fellow missionary Thomas Grace. Arriving on the Eclipse on 1 March, they learned that Völkner's house had been plundered, and were taken prisoner. The next morning Völkner was led to a willow tree some 200 yards from his church. There, wrote Grace, 'He then knelt down and prayed, and, having shaken hands with his murderers said "I am ready", and, while they continued to shake hands with him, they hoisted him up.' Völkner's body was taken down after an hour and decapitated, and the blood tasted, or smeared on their faces, by the many people present. Kereopa forced out the eyes and swallowed them, describing one eye as Parliament and the other as the Queen and English law. This act of indignity to the head of an enemy conferred mana on Kereopa, and earned him the name Kaiwhatu (the Eye-eater).

In a trial the following day three charges were laid against Völkner: 'His going to Auckland as a spy for the Government'; that 'A cross had been found in his house, and therefore he was a Romanist and a deceiver'; and that he had returned to Opotiki despite instructions to stay away. The evidence that Völkner acted as a spy is well documented in letters he sent to Governor George Grey in January and February 1864. Völkner was aware of the risk he was taking, asking Grey not to publicise the source of the information. A further contributing factor to Völkner's unpopularity at this time was the recall, at Grey's insistence, of the popular Catholic missionary Joseph Marie Garavel, after Völkner had accused Garavel of carrying messages to Opotiki from 'hostile' Waikato Maori. Garavel had also accused Völkner of being a spy. Te Whakatohea saw Völkner as one whom they had adopted into their tribe, but who had betrayed them to the Pakeha governor, and for this reason he was executed.

That it was Pokeno, the son of Te Aporotanga, who 'put the rope round Mr. Völkner's neck', also suggests that Te Whakatohea sought punishment, in the public execution of Völkner, for the murder of Te Aporotanga by Te Arawa. Völkner had commented in his 1864 annual report that Te Whakatohea blamed Grey for not having punished Te Arawa, a pro-government tribe, for this act.

The symbolic action of Kereopa, a member of Ngati Rangiwewehi of Te Arawa, must be separated from the concerns of Te Whakatohea. A number of motives have been attributed to him, including a hatred of missionaries and the Pakeha governor and law, revenge for the killing of women and children by British troops at Rangiaowhia in February 1864, and traditional enmity between Te Arawa and Te Whakatohea. Grace commented that 'the people appeared…so worked up by their new religion as to be ready for any work of the devil'; but he also observed that Patara, the second Pai Marire emissary at Opotiki, was neither present at Völkner's death nor defended it at the trial. The irony is that Pai Marire, meaning good and peaceful, was essentially pacifist and millennial in its teachings. The prophet Te Ua did not give instructions to his emissaries to kill missionaries. The arrival of Patara, Kereopa and their party was a catalyst that led to the tragedy.

In response to Völkner's death, military expeditions were sent to Opotiki in search of his killers, who were regularly described as 'fanatics'. A number of local people were arrested, and some executed. A large area of land, from Matata to east of Opotiki, was confiscated from eastern Bay of Plenty tribes. Lurid accounts, based only partly on evidence, appeared in contemporary newspapers and inflamed Pakeha attitudes towards the 'rebels'. Völkner's body was buried at his church, which was later reconsecrated and dedicated to St Stephen the Martyr.

Whether his death is interpreted as Christian martyrdom or execution as a spy, the issues are more complex. Völkner was described by William Fox as 'a man of remarkable simplicity of character, of the most single-minded and devoted piety, and an extremely conciliatory and kind disposition.' He was known as a 'pro-government' missionary, who tried to maintain the loyalty of his people to the government. It is possible that, as a naturalised subject, he felt a need to demonstrate his own loyalty by providing information to Grey. He may simply have been politically naïve. He 'frequently expressed his confidence in the Opotiki Maoris' on his last voyage to Opotiki in February 1865. Perhaps his simple-minded piety clouded his perceptions. The consequences of Völkner's death, in military action, bloodshed, and land confiscation, created continuing bitterness and division among the tribes of the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Te Horeta   ? - 1853
Ngati Whanaunga leader

Te Horeta Te Taniwha died at Coromandel Harbour on 21 November 1853. He had been baptised by the Anglican missionary Thomas Lanfear some four to six weeks before his death.