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
3Sheet 5 — The Tauranga SheetTamaiwhahiaTama-i-wāhia Ngāi Te RangiTauranga 10 April-May 1840

Tama-i-wāhia signed Te Tiriti at Tauranga in April or May 1840. He was a tohunga whose pā at Ōtamarākau near Maketū was attacked by Te Arawa in 1832. He was forced to flee with his people to Tauranga. Encouraged by a vision that he had, his people launched an attack on Ōtamarākau in order to re-take it. However, their attack failed and Tama-i-wāhia was nearly killed in consequence for failing to correctly predict the outcome of the battle.

For further information and sources see Debbie McCauley, The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga: Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Tauranga Moanahttps://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/heritage/cultural-heritage/te-tiriti-o-waitangi-ki-tauranga-moana-treaty-signatories


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

Community contributions

No comments have been posted about Tama-i-wāhia

What do you know?

Can you tell us more about the information on this page? Perhaps you have a related experience you would like to share?

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Comments will be reviewed prior to posting. Not all comments posted. Tell me more...