Nō te matenga o Kīngi Pōtatau ka whakawahia tāna tama a Tāwhiaohei kīngi i te 5 o Hūrae i te tau 1860 i Ngāruawāhia, e Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpīpī Te Waharoa Tarapīpīpī Te Waharoa, ki taua Paipera anō i te whakawahinga o Pōtatau hei kīngi.
Te Pakanga ki Waikato
I ngā tau tōmua o te kīngitanga o Tāwhiao ko te take nui rawa atu ko te pakanga. Ko tā Kāwana Tāmati Kō Paraone he akiaki i a Tāwhiao kia kūpapa ki raro i a Kuīni Wikitōria.1
Nō muri i a Kō Paraone, ko Tā Hōri Kerei. Kāore hoki ia i whakaae kia takirua ngā kīngi o Aotearoa. I tētehi haerenga ki Ngāruawāhia he rongonui te kupu a Kerei ‘Kāore au e whawhai i a ia ki te hoari, ēngari ka keri au ki ōna taha kia hinga ai a ia i a ia anō.’2 Kīhai a Kerei i moumou taima ki tēnei kaupapa here. Ka tere whakahau i tana ope hōia kia whakawhitia te Awa o Mangatāwhiri (nā Tāwhiao te awa nei i tohu hei aukati, hei rohenga) ā, ka whakaarikingia a Waikato i te Hūrae o 1863.
Ka whai mai te pakanga i Waikato, he nui ngā parekura, ka mutu ka horo a Waikato. Ka panaia a Tāwhiao me ōna kaiwhai, arā, ngā ‘Kingites’ ki tua o te Awa o Pūniu ki roto o Te Nehenehenui, me ō rātou huānga tata me Ngāti Maniapoto.
Te Muru Whenua
Ka kīia a Tāwhiao me ōna kaiwhai he whakakeke, ā, ka murua tata ki te 1.2 million eka (ka 500,000 heketea pea) o ō rātou whenua makuru rawa atu. Ka noho te whakahokinga mai o aua whenua nei hei take nui whakaharahara ki a Tāwhiao me ngā rangatira o Waikato mai i taua wā. Ko tā rātou kupu korero nui: ‘I riro whenua atu, me hoki whenua mai’.3
Ka takoto i a Tāwhiao me ngā rangatira o Ngāti Maniapoto te aukati (rohenga) mā te rohenga raupatu ki te Awa o Pūniu, kāore te Pākehā i whakaaetia kia whiti mai. Nō muri mai ka kīia te takiwā nei ko Te Rohe Pōtae.
Te Maungārongo
Mai i Te Nehenehenui, ko te whakapuakinga a Tāwhiao me mutu te pakanga. Heoi anō rā, he whakapuakinga anō nāna kia kaua te rūri whenua, te hoko whenua, te kōti whenua, te maina koura, te pou waea, te kura, me te ture Pākehā. Nā te kore e whakapono ki te Pākehā, ko tā Tāwhiao me noho wehe te Māori me te Pākehā. Heoti rā, i te tau 1881, nō muri o ngā tau whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro me te kāwanatanga, ka whakatakotoria e Tāwhiao me ōna kaiwhai ā rātou pū ki mua o te kaiwhakawā o te rohe ki Arekahānara (Pirongia), ā, ka hoki ki Waikato.
Te Whīkoi ki Ingarangi
Ka mau tonu a Tāwhiao ki tāna, kia whakahokia mai ngā whenua raupatu o Waikato. Nō te tau 1884 ka haere ia ki Ingarangi me ētehi atu ōna ki te kimi mai a Kuīni Wikitōria te puretumu. Ka ohorere a Rānana i te kitenga i te moko o te kanohi o Tāwhiao. Ēngari kīhai i tukua tōna tira kia tūtaki i te kuīni. Ko tā te hekeretari o te Tari Koroniara ki a ia he take nō tōna whenua te take raupatu, mā te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa hei whai.
Nō tōna hokinga mai, ka whakatūria e Tāwhiao te poukai – he haerenga ā-tau ki ētehi marae, i te tīmatatanga o Waikato – mō te poaru, te pani me te rawakore. Ko te poukai tuatahi i tū ki Whatiwhatihoe i te tau 1885, nāwai rā, haere tonu ana te kaupapa nei tae noa mai ki tēnei rautau 2000. Kei ngā marae tata ki te 30 tēnei tikanga o te poukai, he mea haere e te arikinui. Kei ngā poukai te whakahiki me te whakaheke i ngā kara, he karakia Pai Mārire, te pōwhiri me ngā kawe mate, he hākari, me te matapaki i ngā kaupapa ā-tōrangapū, ā-pāpori, ā-wairua hoki i mua i te aroaro o te kīngi. Ka whai wāhi atu te kīngi, te kuini rānei ki whakarongo ki ngā take ā-rohe me tuku i te wāhi ki te marae kia whakaatu i te tautoko mō te Kīngitanga.
Te Mana Māori Motuhake
Ka whakapau a Tāwhiao i ōna kaha ki te whai i te mana Māori motuhake . Nāna tāna Pāremata, Te Kauhanganui i whakatū i te tau 1892. He kaunihera tōna, ka 12 ngā māngai o ngā iwi (ko te Tekau-mā-rua), me ngā ‘minita’. Ko Tupu Taingākawa, te tamaiti tuarua a Wiremu Tāmihana (nāna te tūranga o tōna pāpā i taua wā), te Tumuaki (arā, te Pirīmia). Ka whakawhiwhia a Tāwhiao ki te penihana o te kāwanatanga. Ka raruraru te iwi, te āhua nei he tuku tēnei i tōna mana motuhake, ka whakahokia te penihana, me te itarete hoki.
He Kupu Ōhākī nā Pōtatau
Ka tata ana a Pōtatau ki te mate ko tāna kupu ōhākī ki a Tāwhiao mā. ‘I muri, kia mau ki te whakapono, kia mau ki te aroha, ki te ture. Hei aha te aha, hei aha te aha.’4
He Tongikura
He rongonui a Tāwhiao me āna tongi maha. Hei tauira, he poropiti nā Tāwhiao e pā ana ki ngā rākau whakaiti, kāore i te rongonui, mō te tārewa tonu o te take raupatu i ngā whenua o Waikato, me te nui o te pōhara:
Māku anō e hanga tōku whare
Ko tōna tāhuhu, he hīnau.
Ōna pou he māhoe, he patatē.5
Nā ngā tongi a Tāwhiao Te Kīngitanga i ārahi mai i taua wā.
Ko Aituā
Ka mate a Kīngi Tāwhiao i te 26 o Ākuhata i te tau 1894 i Pārāwera. Ka tanumia ki runga o Taupiri Maunga, te urupā tapu o Waikato, i tanumia ai a Kīngi Pōtatau i te tau 1903. Ka 3,000 pea te tokomaha o te Māori mai i ngā tōpito e whā o Te Motu i tae ake ki te tangihanga o Tāwhiao.
