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Puhirake, Rāwiri

by Jinty Rorke

Biography

Rāwiri Puhirake, also known as Rāwiri Tuaia and Whakatauhoe, was one of the leaders of Ngāi Te Rangi of Tauranga from the 1850s until his death in 1864. He was the son of Te Muna, and grandson of Whakapā and Hinerangi of Ngāi Tukairangi, a hapū of Ngāi Te Rangi from Matapihi, on the eastern side of Tauranga Harbour. The year of his birth is not known. He came under the influence of the Christian missionaries who arrived in the Tauranga area in the 1830s, from whom he learned to read and write in Māori. Rāwiri (David) was probably taken as a baptismal name.

As a young man Puhirake doubtless took part in the warfare against invading Ngāpuhi in the 1820s and 1830s, and in the war with Te Arawa from 1835 to 1845. He led Ngāi Tūkairangi against Ngāti Hē in the Ōhuki land dispute at Tauranga from 1856 to 1859. During the war in Waikato in 1863–64 Wiremu Tamihana Tarapīpīpi of Ngāti Haua requested his help, but he is said to have refused because he wanted to avoid bloodshed in Tauranga. He might have maintained this neutral position, had it not been for the arrival of British troops in Tauranga in January 1864. The official interpreter is said to have goaded him into rebellion by calling him a spy. There is no doubt, however, that he saw the arrival of Colonel G. J. Carey with about 700 men as a direct threat to Māori ownership of Tauranga lands. Once he had made up his mind to fight, he determined to do his best to win.

Several were established by Ngāi Te Rangi leaders. Puhirake rebuilt and occupied an old pā named Te Waoku close to the Waimapu river. He sent formal messages to Lieutenant Colonel H. H. Greer inviting him to bring his soldiers to fight at Te Waoku, and constructed a road to the pā to assist Greer to take up the challenge. No reply was received, and a further challenge was sent from combined Ngāi Te Rangi leaders gathered at Pōterīwhi, Pene Taka Tuaia's pā on the lower Wairoa River. At Pōterīwhi a code of chivalry for the conduct of the war was drawn up with the assistance and approval of Hēnare Taratoa and other leaders.

Finding that the British troops still chose not to engage in battle, Puhirake decided to move closer, and fortified a position at Pukehinahina, at the gate of the property purchased by Archdeacon A. N. Brown on behalf of the Church Missionary Society in 1839. The trenches at what was afterwards called the Gate Pā, constructed by Pene Taka, were proof against the bombardment they received on 29 April 1864. Puhirake proved a strong and capable leader and a good tactician. When 300 British infantry finally stormed the pā, Puhirake's force of some 230 warriors opened fire on them from a maze of underground defences. The British retreated, suffering a crushing defeat. The code of chivalry promulgated at Pōterīwhi was acted upon by those remaining in the pā after the battle.

Peace discussions with Ngāi Te Rangi followed in May, although Puhirake did not take part. Some British troops were withdrawn to Auckland, but on 21 June a reconnaissance force of 600 troops under Lieutenant Colonel Greer came upon Puhirake and 500 men building a new fortification at Te Ranga, a few miles from the Gate Pā. In the ensuing battle Puhirake was killed and his force defeated. When he was buried next day on the battlefield where he had fallen, British officers gathered to pay him their last respects. He was thought to have been about 50 years of age.

Despite this defeat, in the peace negotiations which followed Ngāi Te Rangi were able to bargain for a compromise agreement, which allowed them to make a symbolic submission to the government and to retain most of their lands. Governor George Grey sought to explain the terms of settlement as recognition of the chivalry of Ngāi Te Rangi warriors and the compassion with which Puhirake had directed his people to act towards wounded British troops after the battle at Pukehinahina.

On 13 August 1874 Puhirake's remains were exhumed from Te Ranga, and taken to Matapihi, where he was mourned by his people. He was reburied in the mission cemetery at Ōtamataha pā by some of Tauranga's foremost Pākehā settlers, who had known and respected him. In 1914, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Puhirake's death, an imposing red granite monument was erected on his grave. The memorial was unveiled before about 1,000 people. Among those present were Māori leaders of the district, and European veterans of the wars.


Links and sources

Bibliography

    Belich, J. The New Zealand wars. Auckland, 1986

    Cowan, J. The New Zealand wars. Vol. 1, 1845--64. Wellington, 1922

    Gifford, W. H. & H. B. Williams. A centennial history of Tauranga. Dunedin, 1940

    Mair, G. The story of Gate Pa. Tauranga, 1926


How to cite this page:

Jinty Rorke. 'Puhirake, Rāwiri', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1p30/puhirake-rawiri (accessed 29 March 2024)