Te Rauparaha was a Ngāti Toa chief and warrior. Sometimes called the 'Napoleon of the Southern Hemisphere', he ruled the lower end of the North Island from his base at Kapiti Island for the best part of 20 years
Te Rauparaha
Personal details
Lifetime:
? – 27 Nov 1849
Biography
Events In History
27 November 1849
The formidable Ngāti Toa leader had dominated Te Moana-o-Raukawa - the Cook Strait region - from his base at Kāpiti Island for nearly 20 years.
17 June 1843
Four Māori and 22 Europeans were killed in the first violent clash between Māori and Pākehā since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Articles
A frontier of chaos?
In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents. Read the full article
Page 5 - Captain Stewart and the Elizabeth
In 1830 Captain William Stewart of the brig Elizabeth made an arrangement with the Ngāti Toa leader Te Rauparaha to ferry a taua (war party) of 100 warriors from his base on
The Wairau incident
On 17 June 1843, 22 European settlers and four Māori died when an armed party of New Zealand Company settlers clashed with Ngāti Toa over the purchase of land in the Wairau valley, near modern-day Blenheim. Read the full article
Page 1 - The Wairau incident
On 17 June 1843, 22 European settlers and four Māori died when an armed party of New Zealand Company settlers clashed with Ngāti Toa over the purchase of land in the Wairau
Page 2 - Ngāti Toa and the New Zealand Company
The Wairau incident had its origins in the migration of Ngāti Toa and its allies from Kāwhia to the Kāpiti coast in the southern North
Page 3 - Violence erupts
When Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata told William Wakefield to stop the survey, he told his brother Arthur to ignore
Page 4 - The fallout from Wairau
The news from Wairau shocked settlers throughout the colony. The killing of men who had surrendered was viewed as cold-blooded murder. Many feared that these events signalled the
War in Wellington
In 1846 fighting broke out in the Wellington region when Ngāti Toa chief Te Rangihaeata backed local Maori opposed to European settlement in Hutt Valley. The campaign claimed few lives but effectively ended Ngāti Toa resistance in the region. Read the full article
Page 6 - Last battles
In mid-1846, Governor George Grey decided to neutralise the Ngāti Toa threat in the Wellington region by arresting Te
Related Biographies
Politician, journalist and historian Thomas Buick produced a biography of Te Rauparaha before publishing his best known and most important book, The Treaty of Waitangi, in 1914
Main image: Nohorua and Te Wainokenoke
Te Wainokenoke (seated), to the left of Nohorua (with full moko and a grey beard). Behind the couple is Nohorua's son, Tuarau, standing wrapped in a blanket, ca 1844
