52 Facts About Hongi Hika

Hongi Hika was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand.

Hongi Hika was however not only known for his military prowess; Hongi Hika encouraged Pakeha settlement, built mutually beneficial relationships with New Zealand's first missionaries, introduced Maori to Western agriculture and helped put the Maori language into writing.

Hongi Hika travelled to England and met King George IV.

Hongi Hika was born near Kaikohe into a powerful family of the Te Uri o Hua hapu of Ngapuhi.

Hongi Hika was the second wife of his father Te Hotete, son of Auha, who with his brother Whakaaria had expanded Ngapuhi's territory from the Kaikohe area into the Bay of Islands area.

Ngapuhi fought with small numbers of them in 1808, and Hongi Hika was present later that same year on the first occasion that muskets were used in action by Maori.

Hongi Hika's warriors included Te Ruki Kawiti, Mataroria, Moka Te Kainga-mataa, Rewa, Ruatara, Paraoa, Motiti, Hewa and Mahanga.

In 1812 Hongi Hika led a large taua to the Hokianga against Ngati Pou.

Hongi Hika protected early missionaries and European seamen and settlers, arguing the benefits of trade.

Hongi Hika befriended Thomas Kendall, one of three lay preachers sent by the Church Missionary Society to establish Christianity in New Zealand.

Hongi Hika's older half-brother, Kaingaroa, was an important chief, and his death in 1815 led to Hongi Hika becoming the ariki of Ngapuhi.

Around this time Hongi Hika married Turikatuku, who was an important military advisor for him, although she went blind early in their marriage.

Hongi Hika later took her younger sister Tangiwhare as an additional wife.

Ruatara and Hongi Hika invited Marsden to establish the first Anglican mission to New Zealand in Ngapuhi territory.

Hongi Hika was most keen to trade for muskets but the missionaries were often unwilling to do so.

Hongi Hika was able to trade for iron agricultural implements to improve productivity and to grow crops, with the assistance of slave labour, that could be successfully bartered for muskets.

In 1817, Hongi Hika led a war party to Thames where he attacked the Ngati Maru stronghold of Te Totara, killing 60 and taking 2,000 prisoners.

In 1818 Hongi Hika led one of two Ngapuhi taua against East Cape and Bay of Plenty iwi Ngati Porou and Ngaiterangi.

Hongi Hika encouraged and assisted the first Christian missions to New Zealand, but never converted to Christianity himself.

Hongi Hika personally assisted the missionaries in developing a written form of the Maori language.

Hongi Hika was not alone in seeing the relationship with the missionaries as one of trade and self-interest; indeed virtually no Maori converted to Christianity for a decade.

Hongi Hika protected Thomas Kendall when he left his wife, taking a Maori wife and participating in Maori religious ceremonies.

Hongi Hika spent 5 months in London and Cambridge where his facial moko tattoos made him something of a sensation.

Hongi Hika was later to wear this in battle in New Zealand, causing terror amongst his opponents.

Hongi Hika returned to the Bay of Islands on 4 July 1821.

Hongi Hika travelled together with Waikato and Kendall, aboard the Speke which was transporting convicts to New South Wales and from there on the Westmoreland.

The muskets had been ordered by Baron Charles de Thierry whom Hongi Hika met at Cambridge, England.

Hongi Hika was able to uplift the guns without them being paid for.

Hongi Hika obtained a large quantity of gunpowder, ball ammunition, swords and daggers.

Hongi Hika wore the suit of armour that had been gifted by King George IV during this battle; it saved his life, leading to rumours of his invincibility.

In 1824 Hongi Hika attacked Ngati Whatua again, losing 70 men, including his eldest son Hare Hongi, in the battle of Te Ika a Ranganui.

Hongi Hika left Tamaki Makaurau almost uninhabited as a southern buffer zone.

In 1825 Hongi Hika avenged the earlier defeat of Moremonui in the battle of Te Ika-a-Ranganui, although both sides suffered heavy losses.

In 1826 Hongi Hika moved from Waimate to conquer Whangaroa and found a new settlement.

In January 1827, Hongi Hika was shot in the chest by the warrior Maratea during a minor engagement in the Hokianga.

Hongi Hika lingered for 14 months, and at times it was thought that he might survive the injury; he continued to plan for the future by inviting missionaries to stay at Whangaroa, planning a Waikato expedition and schemed to capture the anchorage at Kororareka.

Hongi Hika invited those around him to listen to the wind whistle through his lungs and some claimed to have been able to see completely through him.

Hongi Hika died of an infection on 6 March 1828 at Whangaroa.

Hongi Hika was survived by five of his children, and his final burial place was a closely guarded secret.

Hongi Hika's death appears to be a turning point in Maori society.

Hongi Hika's account said that Hongi warned on his deathbed that, if "red coat" soldiers should land in Aotearoa, "when you see them make war against them".

Hongi Hika is remembered as a warrior and leader during the Musket Wars.

Hongi Hika's campaigns caused social upheaval, but he had influence through his encouragement of early European settlement, agricultural improvements and the development of a written version of the Maori language.

Hongi Hika's actions altered the balance of power not only in the Waitemata but the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, Coromandel, Rotorua and Waikato to an unprecedented extent, and caused significant redistribution of population.

Hongi Hika never attempted to establish any form of long-term government over iwi he conquered and rarely attempted to permanently occupy territory.

Hongi Hika is said to have stated during his visit to England, "There is only one king in England, there shall be only one king in New Zealand", but if he had ambitions of becoming a Maori king, they were never realised.

Hongi Hika's second son, Hare Hongi Hika, was a signatory in 1835 to the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand.

Hongi Hika became a prominent leader after his father's death and was one of only six rangatira to sign the declaration by writing his name, rather than making a tohu.

Hongi Hika was later to be a prominient figure in Maori struggles for sovereignty in the nineteenth century and was instrumental in the opening of Te Tii Waitangi Marae in 1881.

Hongi Hika had inherited her father's confidence and drive, and brought her own mana to the relationship.

Hongi Hika had lived for some years with the family of Charlotte Kemp and her husband James Kemp.

Hongi Hika is portrayed leading a war party against the Te Arawa iwi in a 2018 music video for New Zealand thrash metal band Alien Weaponry's song "Kai Tangata".