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Born in the Ngāti Tama stronghold of Poutama, North Taranaki, early in the nineteenth century, Paremata was the eldest son of Ngāti Tama fighting chief Te Taku, and Kauhoe of Ngāti Hinetuhi, a hapū of Ngāti Mutunga. His…

Te Mahuki, also known as Te Manukura, was born at Te Kumi, north of Te Kūiti, probably in the 1840s. He belonged to Ngāti Kinohaku, kin to Ngāti Maniapoto. Little is known of his parentage or childhood, but he came to…

Te Pahi was by 1800 one of the senior chiefs of the north-western Bay of Islands. He was the son of Wharerau, a descendant of the ancient ancestral Ngāti Awa, the original people of the area, and of their Ngāpuhi…

Te Whakataupuka of Ngāi Tahu was born probably in Murihiku (the southern part of the South Island), late in the eighteenth century. His Ngāi Tahu grandfather, Te Hau-tapunui-o-Tū, was instrumental in securing peace…

Matiu (Matt) Te Hau was born at Ōmarumutu, near Ōpōtiki, on 11 July 1912, the son of William Turakiuta Cooper of Ngāti Kahungunu, a licensed interpreter, and Kōparepare Matiu, of Ngāti Ruatakenga hapū of Te Whakatōhea.…

Te Rata Mahuta was the fourth leader of the Māori King movement. He inherited many of the leadership qualities of his predecessors, with the added support of 50 years of widespread Māori recognition of the special…

Kaihau Te Rangikakapi Maikara Āporo was born, according to family information, in 1863, probably in the lower Wairarapa Valley. She was the eldest child of Maikara Paranihia and her husband, Hōhepa Āporo, who was the…

Te Rangi-taka-i-waho was born in Wairarapa. His baptismal name may have been Mānihera (Maunsell); the missionary William Colenso, with whom he had a close connection, knew him as Maunsell Te Kehu and he was commonly…

Teoti Kerei Te Hioirangi Te Whāiti was born, according to family information, in 1890 at Pirinoa, Wairarapa. He was the third son among the 13 children of Irāia Te Ama-o-te-rangi Te Whāiti, a Ngāti Kahungunu leader,…

Te Wheoro, who was later also known as Wiremu Te Mōrehu (William Morris) or Rehu, and also as Maipapa, was born in Waikato. His mother was Ngāpawa, and his father was Te Kanawa. Through Ngāpawa, Te Wheoro was descended…

Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the first woman chosen to lead the Kīngitanga (the Māori king movement). She served as Māori queen for over 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Te Atairangikaahu…

Hauraki was the son of Kaitara, a principal leader of Ngāti Hineira and Te Uri Taniwha, of Ngāpuhi. In his youth Hauraki lived in Pukenui pā, Te Ahuahu, in the Bay of Islands. One wife of Kaitara was Inu, of Ngāti Pou;…

Te Moananui, sometimes known as Kurupō, was a Ngāti Kahungunu leader of high rank in Heretaunga (Hawke's Bay) in the nineteenth century. His hapū was Ngāti Hāwea. Through his father, Whakatō, he was descended from Te…

Te Ao-kapurangi was born probably in the late eighteenth century. One of her parents was Parepūwhenua and the other possibly Te Whangongo. Descended from Tamatekapua of Te Arawa canoe and from Hoturoa of the Tainui…

Te Pōkiha Taranui belonged to Ngāti Pikiao of Te Arawa, and was descended from Te Tākinga and Hineui. His mother was Te Huruhuru and his father was Taranui. He was born probably in the Rotoiti district early in the…

Te Pehi Kupe was born at Kāwhia. He was the elder son of Toitoi and was descended in the senior line from Toa Rangatira, the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Toa. His mother was Waipunāhau, a woman of the Ngāti Hinetuhi…

Hēnare Te Atua was an important leader in the community of Ngāti Kere and other hapū at Pōrangahau in southern Hawke's Bay in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, where he succeeded to the authority of…

Te Peehi Tūroa, who was also known as Te Rākau-ā-Peehi Tūroa Papa-i-ōuru, was born some time in the later eighteenth century. His father was Te Hītaua, the son of Tūkai-ora; his mother was Tinanga. He was descended from…

Moihi Te Mātorohanga, also known as Moihi (or Mohi) Torohanga, was of the major Wairarapa hapū Ngāti Moe. His family hapū was Ngāti Whakawhena. He was also kin to Ngāi Tahu of Wairarapa, Ngāi Tūkoko, Ngāti Kahukura-…

Te Paea (Sophia) Tīaho, of Ngāti Mahuta, was born probably in the early 1820s in Waikato. Her father was Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the first Māori King. Her mother was probably his senior wife, Whakaawi, but may have been…