Te Rauparaha

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Te Rauparaha around 1840
Te Rauparaha, 1849

Te Rauparaha (* around 1760; † November 27, 1849 in Otaki , New Zealand ) was a Māori and leader of the Iwi Ngāti Toa , who held a leading role during the Musket Wars . He was involved in the first land sale to the New Zealand Company and in the Wairau tumult in Marlborough , the first armed conflict between the Māori and the British.

Around 1810 he composed Ka Mate , the most famous haka dance of all, which is performed by the New Zealand national rugby union team , the All Blacks , before every game.

Life

By 1815 muskets replaced the traditional weapons of the Māori and changed the way of warfare between the tribes permanently. In 1819 Te Rauparaha joined a larger group of Ngāpuhi warriors under Tāmati Wāka Nene , who temporarily conquered the area between Waikato and the Cook Strait . In the following years the tribal wars intensified and in 1822 the Ngāti Toa were expelled from their ancestral home on the west coast of the North Island . Led by Te Rauparaha, they fought their way south, conquered the southern part of the North Island. The offshore island of Kapiti Island became the base of the tribe. Attempts by several Māori tribes to conquer Kapiti Island were repulsed.

There were already numerous whaling stations for European settlers ( Pākehā ) in the region. Te Rauparaha traded with them, secured a supply of muskets and thus increased his military strength and mana . In 1827 he began to conquer the South Island and finally controlled its northern part in the early 1830s. After a three-month siege, the Ngāti Toa conquered the important Pā (fortified settlement) of the Ngāi Tahu near Kaiapoi , and shortly afterwards Onawe on the Bay of Akaroa . These and other battles in the south, however, had more of the character of revenge campaigns and served less to expand the controlled territory.

On October 16, 1839, the New Zealand Company's expedition led by William Wakefield landed on Kapiti Island. The company planned to acquire large tracts of land in order to be able to establish permanent European settlements. Te Rauparaha sold land in the area that would later become the city of Nelson . On February 6, 1840, he was a co-signer of the Waitangi Treaty , which gave the United Kingdom sovereignty over New Zealand (provided he could maintain his status as tribal leader).

As more and more British settlers poured into the country, Te Rauparaha refused to continue selling land. This quickly led to conflict with the settlers, who believed they had the God-given right to occupy all of New Zealand. The dispute escalated in the so-called Wairau tumult when a group from Nelson tried to arrest Te Rauparaha, killing 22 British people. The subsequent government investigation exonerated Te Rauparaha, which angered the settlers even more. They waged a campaign to remove Governor Robert FitzRoy .

In May 1846 fighting broke out in the Hutt Valley between the settlers and Te Rauparaha's nephew Te Rangihaeata . Although Te Rauparaha declared himself neutral, he was arrested by the new governor George Edward Gray in a village near what is now Plimmerton . He was detained without trial and exiled to Auckland . In 1848 he received permission to return to his tribe in Otaki, and died a year later.

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personal data
SURNAME Te Rauparaha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Māori tribal chief
DATE OF BIRTH around 1760
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1849
Place of death Otaki , New Zealand