Kiti Karaka Rīwai, 1870–1927
Kiti Karaka Rīwai was of Ngāti Māmoe and Moriori descent. The children of her marriage to Moriori leader Rīwai Te Rōpiha boosted the Moriori population of the Chatham Islands at a time when it was in serious decline.
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Alexander Shand, 1840–1910
Amateur ethnologist Alexander Shand collaborated with Moriori Hirawanu Tapu to collect Moriori history and language. Much of this material was published between 1892 and 1898, and is particularly valuable because it was based on first-hand accounts from Moriori informants.
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Hirawanu Tapu, ?–1900
Enslaved by Ngāti Tama after their invasion of the Chatham Islands in 1835, Hirawanu Tapu became fluent in written and spoken Māori, and also spoke a little English. Because of this versatility he became the main spokesman for Moriori from the 1860s, and helped the ethnographer Alexander Shand to collect Moriori history, traditions, chants and vocabulary.
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