IWI / HAPU AFFILIATIONS
Whitiora Te Kumete was also known as Wi Kumete and Wiremu Kumete
Te Whitiora whose main kāinga was at Pirongia. He was taken prisoner
after the 1863 battle at Rangiriri along with Takerei Te Angaanga,
also of Ngāti Mahuta, and sent to Kawau Island.1 When he and his cohorts escaped
the island to the mainland near Mahurangi in 1864, they were
visited by a Government agent and urged to return to captivity.2 This proverb was his
response:
He manu ka motu i te mahanga e kore e taea te whai.
A bird which has once escaped from the snare will not be caught
again.
Very few accounts exist of how the personal appearance of rangatira Māori and the effect they
had on the public. This sketch provides some insight into the
personal attributes of Whitiora Te Kumete, considered to be very
influential in his time.
While we were eating, Whitiora, or Wiremu te Kumete, walked, out
into the space between the two lines and prepared to address us. He
was dressed in a native mat made with sleeves like a coat, and
called a kouru, moleskin trousers, and knee boots; and while he
spoke he held his cap in his hand. His commanding figure and manly
intelligent features, no less than the deep, energetic tones in
which he spoke, were sufficient to strike the observer with
admiration.3
Whitiora Te Kumete died in September 1897.4
NM
Tukua mai āu nā kōreroSubmit your storyTāhuhu kōrero
Contributed stories
Do you have a story related to this portrait? Maybe you have images of this person? If you would like to see your story published on this website, please submit it here. All stories are reviewed before publishing.