Paora Tuhaere

 

Te Taou, Nga Oho, Waiohua, Ngāti Whatua (c.1825-1892)

Iwi map - Paora TuhaereIWI / HAPU AFFILIATIONS

Paora Tuhaere was paramount chief of Auckland iwi Ngāti Whatua and well-known as a peacemaker and intermediary between Māori and the Government.1 Tuhaere became paramount chief in 1868 and was based in Orakei, on the shores of Okahu Bay.  Tuhaere was the nephew of esteemed rangatira, Apihai Te Kawau.2 His mother was Apihai's sister Atareta Tuha and his father was Whanararei of the Te Taou hapu.  He married twice, firstly to Tupanapana, granddaughter of Ngāpuhi leader, Te Wharerahi and later to Harata Rewiri Tarapata, with whom he had a daughter, Mere.

He was a Christian lay preacher often speaking at inter-tribal gatherings and keen to promote peace.  To a group of Dalmatians arriving in Auckland he said, "The laws of England shield us from the hand of the aggressor, we live happy and at peace, and rejoice to welcome those who, like you, come to us on a mission of goodwill!"3 He wrote to Native Minister, Sir Donald McLean upon hearing of McLean's resignation in 1877, 'Friend, our hearts will never forget you and may God give you life'.4

In the 1840s and 1850s, Tuhaere was involved in land sales for the settlement of Auckland, however, after this time Ngāti Whatua supported the Kingitanga movement's call for a ban on further sales of Māori land.

Tuhaere wrote on his tribe's history, both their genealogy and their conflicts with other iwi.5 He was an advocate for the Treaty of Waitangi, reminding the Government of their obligations, and was a member of the Māori parliament or Te Kotahitanga movement which sought Māori control of Māori affairs.6

This work is not the only portrait of Paora Tuhaere by Gottfried Lindauer.  In 1934, the Auckland Art Gallery was gifted a second portrait, Paora Tuhaere (or Paora (Paul) Tuhaere in Orakei), in which he is depicted wearing European clothing.  Lindauer also painted Tuhaere's cousin, Te Hira Te Kawau.  Fellow portrait painter, Charles Goldie, painted Tuhaere's wife, Harata Rewiri Tarapata, in 1906.

CM

 

 

  1. Oliver, Steven. 'Tuhaere, Paora ? - 1892'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007, accessed 5 March 2010.
  2. Ruby Kerei, Steven Oliver and Ani Pihema, 'Te Kawau, Apihai ? - 1869', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007, accessed 5 March 2010.
  3. ‘Extracts from the Novara’s circumnavigation 1857-1859’, compiled by George Mihaljevich, President Dalmatian Genealogical & Historical Society, December 1999, updated October 2007.
  4. Letter from Paora Tuhaere to McLean (with translation), 5 Jan 1877, MS Papers 0032-0701-06, Object #1030064, Sir Donald McLean Papers, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, accessed 5 March 2010.
  5. See for example: Grey NZ Manuscripts GNZMZ 725, Special Collections, Central City Library, Auckland; ‘An Historical Narrative Concerning the Conquest of Kaipara and Tamaki by Ngati-Whatua’, Journal of the Polynesian Society, no 32, 1923.
  6. Rāwiri Taonui, 'Ngāti Whātua - Ngāti Whātua and the Treaty of Waitangi', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 4 March 2009, accessed 5 March 2010.
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