Te Rauparaha was influential in the original sale of land to the New Zealand Company and was a participant in the Wairau Affray in Marlborough.
23 Facts About Te Rauparaha
2.
Te Rauparaha successfully defended the strategically important Kapiti Island and expanded his tribe's territory through conquests in the South Island.
3.
Te Rauparaha fostered trade with European whalers and strengthened his power through strategic alliances.
4.
Te Rauparaha was arrested but later exonerated and allowed to return to his people.
5.
Te Rauparaha contributed to the construction of Rangiatea Church before his death in 1849.
6.
Te Rauparaha composed the "Ka Mate" haka, which has become a symbol of New Zealand's sports teams.
7.
Te Rauparaha's legacy is remembered through biographies, a memorial, and the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.
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Queen Victoria 8.
Te Rauparaha's mother was Parekowhatu of the Ngati Raukawa iwi and his father was Werawera of Ngati Toa.
9.
Te Rauparaha is thought to have been born the late 1760s.
10.
Te Rauparaha married his daughter Te Rongo to an influential whaling captain Captain John William Dundas Blenkinsop to whom he sold land in the Wairau Valley for a whaling station.
11.
Te Rauparaha then hired the brig Elizabeth, captained by John Stewart, to transport himself and approximately 100 warriors to Akaroa Harbour with the aim of attacking the local tribe, Ngai Tahu.
12.
Te Rauparaha was incensed and following their arrival at Kapiti the parents and other prisoners were killed, Tamaiharanui after prolonged torture.
13.
The last years of Te Rauparaha's life saw the most dramatic changes.
14.
Te Rauparaha sold them some land in the area that became known later as Nelson and Golden Bay.
15.
Te Rauparaha had requested that Rev Henry Williams send a missionary and in November 1839 Octavius Hadfield travelled with Henry Williams, and Hadfield established an Anglican mission on the Kapiti Coast.
16.
On 14 May 1840 Te Rauparaha signed a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi, believing that the treaty would guarantee him and his allies the possession of territories gained by conquest over the previous 18 years.
17.
Te Rauparaha soon became alarmed at the flood of British settlers and refused to sell any more of his land.
18.
Te Rauparaha was charged with supplying weapons to Maori who were in open insurrection.
19.
Te Rauparaha was captured near a tribal village Taupo Pa in what would later be called Plimmerton, by troops acting for the Governor, George Grey, and held without trial under martial law before being exiled to Auckland where he was held in the ship Calliope.
20.
Grey spoke to Te Rauparaha and persuaded him to give up all outstanding claims to land in the Wairau valley.
21.
Te Rauparaha did not live to see the church completed and he died the following year on 27 November 1849.
22.
Te Rauparaha left for England in December 1850 and was presented to Queen Victoria in 1852.
23.
Te Rauparaha composed "Ka Mate" as a celebration of life over death after his lucky escape from pursuing enemies.