Haora Tipa Koinaki.
A famous fighting chief of the Ngatipaoa tribe of the Thames. He
took a prominent part in the tribal wars with the Waikato and
Ngapuhi tribes. He was at Mauinaena (Mt Wellington near Auckland)
when Hongi attacked and took that pah. The Ngatipaoa had only four
flint muskets to oppose the enemies well armed force. Koinaki had
one of these, and had one of his teeth knocked out by the recoil of
the piece. When the Natives fled, they left their head chief Te
Hinaki in the pah wounded. A Ngapuhi came to despatch him with a
tomahawk; Te Hinaki was seated on the ground dressed in his best
mats, and he quietly handed his greenstone "mere" to the man,
saying "kill me with the weapon of my ancestors, not with that
foreign thing".
The next Ngapuhi expedition which came to Waikato was
annihilated by the Thames Natives under Koinaki and two tribes of
Waikato led by Kukutai. During the Waikato war of 1863 Koinaki
staunchly adhered to the Government side. He ably assisted Mr
Commissioner Mackay in making peace with the Thames rebels in 1864,
and subsequently in opening up the Thames District for gold mining.
He was a quiet unassuming man, but brace and
(overleaf)
thoroughly honest and reliable. He died in 1872 at an advance
age.
James Mackay
Late Civil Commissioner. NZ
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