36 Facts About Ropata Wahawaha

Ropata Wahawaha later obtained his freedom and as an adult, became known as Ropata.

Rapata Ropata Wahawaha was born about 1820 either in Te Puia Springs or Akuaku, in the Waiapu Valley on the East Cape.

Ropata Wahawaha was the son of Hipora Koroua and Te Hapamana Te Whao.

Ropata Wahawaha was of the Te Aowera hapu of the Ngati Porou iwi, one of the major Maori iwi in the eastern regions of the North Island of New Zealand.

Ropata Wahawaha became the slave of Rapata Whakapuhia whose name he perforce adopted.

Ropata Wahawaha preferred this as it disassociated him from the period of life when he was a slave.

Ropata Wahawaha was married to Harata Te Ihi whose nephew, Paratene Ngata, was raised in their household.

Little is known of Ropata Wahawaha's life following his marriage until 1865, when the East Cape War broke out.

Ropata Wahawaha himself was staunchly Anglican, and was a founding member of the diocese of Waiapu.

Ropata Wahawaha's party was poorly equipped, with only a few flintlock muskets among them, and traditional weapons such as mere and taiaha.

The rangatira of the Te Aowera was killed in the engagement and Ropata Wahawaha succeeded him as the leader of his hapu.

Ropata Wahawaha suffered another defeat two days later when his party was driven off during an attack of the Hauhau's pa at Pukemaire.

Ropata Wahawaha was regarded as ruthless: according to an account written in 1879 by Walter Gudgeon, at one point Ropata found some men from his own hapu, Te Aowera, among a group of Hauhau prisoners and he personally shot each one.

Ropata Wahawaha eagerly complied; many of the Hauhau in Poverty Bay were of the Rongowhakaata iwi, which had enslaved him as a child.

Ropata Wahawaha continued to lead his war party south, this time in assistance of the Ngati Kahungunu iwi, which was aligned with the Government.

Ropata Wahawaha initially proposed to spare those of Ngati Kahungunu but this was not acceptable to that tribe's rangatira who wished to make an example for the rest of their iwi.

In July 1868, Ropata Wahawaha was called upon again by the Government to help deal with a new threat.

Ropata Wahawaha declined to join; he, along with Donald McLean and Karaitiana Takamoana, the Ngati Kahungunu rangatira, felt that Te Kooti remained a threat to the East Cape region and did not want to see the area and his people defenceless.

Ropata Wahawaha was to command an East Cape invasion force, and manage its military operations.

Only one pakeha was allowed to accompany each of the Maori war parties; Ropata Wahawaha asked for and got Captain Thomas Porter, an officer of the Voluntary Cavalry in Poverty Bay.

Ropata Wahawaha was annoyed at the efforts of Ngati Kahungunu, which had mounted a similar campaign at the same time, causing the Hauhau remnants to scatter.

Ropata Wahawaha took a party of 170 warriors to the Urewera country in mid-January 1871.

Ropata Wahawaha had succeeded in capturing small groups of Ringatu adherents who claimed to have lost contact with Te Kooti.

Porter, still accompanying Ropata Wahawaha, struck out for sites previously searched to ensure that Te Kooti had not returned to them.

Ropata Wahawaha linked up with a Te Arawa party hunting Te Kooti after he escaped them following an attack on his campsite at Waipaoa.

Porter and Ropata Wahawaha, now recovered from his illness, met up at Maungapohatu, and then moved onto Ruatahuna, where they were advised that Kereopa Te Rau, who was one of the Hauhau involved in the murder of Volkner in 1865, was living a few hours away.

Ropata Wahawaha used his influence to strengthen the iwi's position with the Government, ensuring that it maintained its promise to not confiscate Ngati Porou land.

Ropata Wahawaha settled at Waiomatatini and constructed a marae there, calling it Porourangi.

Ropata Wahawaha became a land agent for the Government, facilitating the sale or leasing of Ngati Porou land.

Ropata Wahawaha particularly encouraged the use of the Native Land Court to settle disputes.

Ropata Wahawaha was against the movement; he tried to exert undue influence in the electorate in favour of his preferred candidate for the seat, Hotene Porourangi, but was unsuccessful.

In 1878 Ropata Wahawaha was awarded the Sword of Honour from Queen Victoria in recognition of his service in the conflicts against the Pai Marire and Te Kooti.

Ropata Wahawaha was entitled to the New Zealand War Medal.

Ropata Wahawaha was buried with full military honours nearly two weeks later at an urupa on Puputa, a rocky outcrop behind the Porourangi marae at Waiomatatini.

Since the 1860s, Ropata Wahawaha has been described as a Kupapa, for example by historians James Belich and Michael King.

Ropata Wahawaha took a pragmatic approach to collaboration with the Government to ensure his iwi's land was not confiscated given that at least some Ngati Porou became Hauhau during the East Cape War.