IWI / HAPU AFFILIATIONS
Wiremu Te Kakakura Parata was born on Kapiti Island, probably in
the mid-1830s. His mother was Metapere Waipunahau, the daughter of
Te Rangihiroa, younger brother of Te Pehi Kupe, a leading rangatira of Ngāti Toa. Metapere
Waipunahau married George Stubbs, an American whaler and trader. Wi
Parata's name Te Kakakura was given to him to honour the ohaki or
dying speech of Te Pehi Kupe. The name refers to the red feathers
under the wing of the kaka, symbolic of high chiefs.
Parata had one brother, Hemi Matenga, who was married to Huria
Matenga from Whakapuaka in Nelson. Parata is said to have
married twice. Nothing is known of his first wife. His second wife
was Unaiki, of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa. They are said to have
married in 1852, and had at least 11 children.1
Wi Parata's name is famed in legal circles for a case he brought
against the Bishop of Wellington in 1877. Ngāti Toa land had been
given to the Anglican Church in 1848 to establish a school, but one
was never built and a Crown grant over the land was later issued to
the Church. In his judgement against Parata, the Chief Justice
declared that the Treaty of Waitangi was 'a simple nullity'.2 This ruling had significant
implications for the interpretation of the Treaty in the years that
followed.
A number of family and friends visited the Lindauer Art
Gallery in Auckland including Member of the House of
Representatives Wi Pere, and Henare Parata, Te Rongo Kahira
Parata and Irihapeti Parata. They left a comment in 1901 saying
they were most gratified at seeing portraits of their elders.
NM
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