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Watch an interview with descendant George
Parekowhai
Pera Te Rangituatahi Tutoko was one of the first batch of Māori
prisoners incarcerated at Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) in 1866.
Leading up to his incarceration, Tutoko was part of a 200-plus
strong group of Māori who vowed to defend their land from imminent
confiscation by the Government and to maintain independence. The
standoff is now famously referred to as the November 1865 one-week
'hinge of fate'1 attack on
Waerenga a Hika Pa in Poverty Bay. The fate of Tutoko after this
event, together with other Māori including Te Kooti Te Turuki
Arikirangi was that they were sent to Napier, then exiled to
Wharekauri. The cause and significance of the attack on Waerenga a
Hika Pa is still being debated today.
Ironically, it is said that Te Kooti Arikirangi2 was part of a group of
Rongowhakaata Māori who fought on the Government side during the
Waerenga a Hika siege. Arrested on suspicion of spying at
that time, Te Kooti was seized on 3 March 1866 and detained in
Napier. Despite protesting his innocence and repeated requests for
a trial, he was shipped with other prisoners to Wharekauri on 5
June 1866.3 Pera eventually
escaped on board the Rifleman with Te Kooti and others
captives from Wharekauri and reached Whareongaonga, south of
Poverty Bay, on 10 July 1868.
Around 1886-7 Pera was in Gisborne when elders of the day
decided to visit Te Kooti at Te Tokonganui-a-noho Marae at Te Kuiti
seeking spiritual advice. Te Kooti's advice was that Rongowhakaata
Maori should 'Whakahaungia te Rongopai I runga I te Ngawari me te
Aroha.' Translated this means they should 'Proclaim the gospel, the
gentler faith and the love of God.' They honoured Te Kooti by
building four major marae named Whakahau, Rongopai, Ngawari and Te
Aroha.
Lindauer inscribed this painting with the words Chief Pera
Tutoko of Kaitara, PV (Poverty Bay). In Pera's lifetime,
Kaitara was a fighting pā, but is now a tribal urupa.
Pera had whakapapa connections to Te
Urewera and his given name was Te Rangituatahi Pera Uatuku. The
name Pera is an abbreviation of the name Aperahama, the Māorified
Christian name for Abraham. The name Tutoko was bestowed on Pera in
honour of a family ancestor.
Pera was a practitioner of spirit-based ideology and strongly
believed in the philosophic power of Māori to vision their
future. His Nga Potiki worldview was inspirational to his
people and his ideologies continue to motivate his descendants to
this day.4 Aperahama died 15
May 1897.5
NM
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