Story: Kīngitanga – the Māori King movement

This 1846 drawing by Thomas Collinson shows the two principal founders of the Kīngitanga movement – Mātene Te Whiwhi (standing) and Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, together with Mātene's wife, Pipi (Phoebe) Te Ihurape and a child. Both men were baptised and taught to read and write by missionaries in Ōtaki, and they adopted European dress and manners. In 1853 they began campaigning for a Māori monarch to develop unity and retain Māori land. When war broke out in 1860 they supported the government.