Tāreha Te Moananui Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Ariki
Tāreha Te Moananui
Honorific-Suffix:MP
Constituency Mp:Eastern Maori
Parliament:New Zealand
Term Start:1868
Term End:1870
Predecessor:New constituency
Successor:Karaitiana Takamoana
Birth Date:1800–1810
Birth Place:Ahuriri
Spouse:Mere Te Huia Te Apatari
Children:Te Roera Tareha & Kurupo
Residence:Pā Whakairo
Profession:Paramount Chief & Political Leader
Religion:Te Hāhi Mihinare
Allegiance:Ngāti Kahungunu
Battles:New Zealand Wars
Tāreha Te Moananui
Paramount Chief of Heretaunga
Predecessor:Te Moananui
Successor:Rēnata Kawepō
Birth Name:Tāreha
House:Rangikamangungu
Father:Oneone
Mother:Hamene
Moretext1:Head of the House of Rangikamangungu

Tāreha Te Moananui (died 19 December 1880) was a Paramount Chief of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi, and a Māori member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1868 to 1870.

Born between 1800 and 1810, Tāreha was the son of the great Chief Oneone of Ngāti Rangikamangungu and Hāmene of Ngāi Tūhoe.[1] He received the paramountcy and name of Te Moananui following the death of Ngāti Kahungunu leader Kurupō Te Moananui in 1861.

Tāreha was known as 'Te Mokopuna a Tangaroa', this is due to his families close descent and association with Pania and the Ponaturi tribe who live in the sea. Because of this the ancestral Wharenui at Waiohiki is called Hau Te Ana Nui, which is also the name of his ancestor Tangaroa's house in the ocean.

Tāreha was one of four Māori elected in 1868 for the new Māori electorates in the New Zealand Parliament, and he was the first of the four to speak in Parliament. He represented the electorate of Eastern Maori from 1868 to 1870, when he retired.[2]

He died on 19 December 1880, and his tangi and funeral took place at Waiohiki, near Taradale.[3] He had two surviving children, sons Te Roera Tāreha (1850s–1941) and Kurupō Tāreha (1871–1938).

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Whakapapa of Te Roera Tāreha and Kurupō Tāreha . April 2022 . Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . 22 October 2022.
  2. Book: Wilson, James Oakley . New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 . 4 . First ed. published 1913 . 1985 . V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer . Wellington . 154283103 .
  3. News: The funeral of Tareha . 31 December 1880 . Hawke's Bay Herald . 6 August 2016 . 3.