Iharaira Te Houkamau

Iharaira Te Houkamau (?–1875) was a notable New Zealand tribal leader. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngati Porou iwi.[1]

Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti), Henry Williams arrived in Poverty Bay on 8 April 1840 on the ship Ariel with a Māori-language copy of te Tiriti ('Tūranga Treaty copy'). Between 5 May and 9 June 1840, William Williams, presented the Tūranga Treaty copy to rangatira at Tūranga, Uawa, Wakawitirā, Rangitukia and Tokomaru so that those East Coast chiefs could sign; 41 signatures appear on the Tūranga Treaty copy, a number of important rangatira refused to sign, including Te Kani a Takirau of Uawa and Te Houkamau.[1][2]

Te Houkamau opposed the appointment of Revd Rota Waitoa to Te Kawakawa (Te Araroa) in 1848, because he considered it an insult to his dignity to have a Māori deacon whose people he looked upon as bitter enemies. However Te Houkamau eventually accepted Waitoa and Te Houkamau offered himself as a candidate for baptism.[3] To show his penitence, Te Houkamau begged Waitoa to appoint him “church sweeper and bellringer to the House of the Lord.”[3][4]

References
  1. Oliver, Steven. "Iharaira Te Houkamau". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. Derby, Mark (July 2007). "Wai 900 – East Coast inquiry, 'Undisturbed Possession' – Te Tiriti o Waitangi and East Coast Māori 1840 – 1865 (Scoping Report)" (PDF). Ruawaipu. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  3. Mackay, Joseph Angus (1949). Historic Poverty Bay and the East Coast, N.I., N.Z. - Mission Work in the Waiapu.
  4. Dempsey, G. J. "Rota Waitoa". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 3 November 2015.


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