Story: Missions and missionaries

Wiremu Tāmihana

Wiremu Tāmihana

Although seen here in a warlike pose, the Ngāti Hauā leader Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpipi Te Waharoa was committed to peace and Christian principles for nearly all his adult life. He was baptised by the CMS missionary A. N. Brown in 1839. In the 1850s he headed a model Christian community at Pēria while negotiating to set up a Māori king. When Te Wherowhero was confirmed as king in 1859, Tāmihana held a Bible over his head during the coronation ceremony.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-005322-F
Photograph by Charles Henry Monkton

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Peter J. Lineham, 'Missions and missionaries - Decline of missionary influence', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/28021/wiremu-tamihana (accessed 30 April 2024)

Story by Peter J. Lineham, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 8 Aug 2018