Nga Tohu

In 1840 more than 500 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. Ngā Tohu, when complete, will contain a biographical sketch of each signatory.


Signing

SignatureSheetSigned asProbable nameTribeHapūSigning Occasion
5Sheet 3 — The Waikato-Manukau SheetKukutaiKūkūtai WaikatoNgāti TipāWaikato Heads Late March or early April 1840

Kūkūtai signed the Waikato-Manukau sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi in late March or early April 1840 at Waikato Heads. He was a rangatira (chief) of Ngāti Tipā. His son Waata Pihikete Kūkūtai moved the tribe to Te Kōhanga to live with the Anglican missionary Robert Maunsell in 1853. Kūkūtai’s wife, the mother of Waata Kūkūtai, was named Oeroa.

Kūkūtai lived in Raglan for a time after he had led Ngāti Tipā to help Wiremu Nēra Te Awa-i-taia of Ngāti Māhanga force Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha out of Kāwhia in the early 1820s.

After Kūkūtai was killed in an inter-hapū battle at Ihutaroa on the Waikato River in 1846, Waata Kūkūtai took over the leadership of Ngāti Tipā.


If you have more information about this treaty signatory please add a community contribution below or contact us at [email protected].

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