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 8 — The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) SheetTe Ware PouriTe WharepōuriTe Āti AwaNgāti TāwhirikuraPort Nicholson 29 April 1840

Te Wharepōuri, known as Te Kakapi-o-te-rangi in his youth, signed Te Tiriti at Port Nicholson on 29 April 1840.

Originally from Taranaki, he migrated to Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) via Kāpiti and Waikanae. It took some years for Te Wharepōuri and the Ngāti Tāwhirikura hapū to find a permanent home. Te Wharepōuri and his wife Te Uamairangi had no children; he treated his niece, Rīpeka Wharawhara-i-terangi Te Kakapi, as his own. He was also the uncle of Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III, the prophet of Parihaka. He was the principal leader of his hapū during times of great upheaval and conflict, firstly during inter-tribal conflict and then, after the arrival of the Pākehā, in negotiating changing responsibilities and circumstances post-1840. Te Wharepōuri died in Petone in 1842.

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