Wharepoaka's visit, and the 1831 letter to King WIlliam IV, lead to the appointment of James Busby in 1832. After meeting with Wharepoaka, Governor Darling wrote to the Colonial Office on 13 April suggesting that a British Resident be appointed in New Zealand. Ngāpuhi were concerned that Europeans were becoming involved in inter-tribal warfare, and that the peaceful alliance between Māori and Europeans, sealed when Hongi Hika and Waikato visited King George IV in 1820, was in danger. ![]() In October 1830 Stewart had transported a party of Ngāti Toa warriors from Kāpiti Island to Banks Peninsula to attack Ngāi Tahu. His mana was put to important use in April 1831, when Wharepoaka visited Governor Darling in Sydney to protest the actions of John Stewart, master of the brig Elizabeth. A brave and capable leader, he was also a key player during the ‘Girls’ War’ of March 1830. Wharepoaka is said to have been severely wounded during the battle and only survived thanks to an operation performed by Hongi Hika. Wharepoaka told Marsden of the many taua in which he had taken part, including the 1825 battle of Te Ika-a-Ranganui with Ngāti Whātua, Te Roroa and associated hapū. Yet he seems to have remained outside of the anti-missionary Nākahi movement, which was influenced by the teachings of the prophet Papahurihia. However Wharepoaka was never baptised, and at one stage argued that missionaries were bewitched people. ![]() When his eldest daughter, Whitirua, died in June 1833, Wharepoaka consented to a Christian service before she was buried in the urupā (burial ground) on the summit of Rangihoua. Two of Wharepoaka’s daughters also grew up in the household of missionary John King. When Wharepoaka followed the Christian custom of giving his sister Karuhi away during her wedding to Tapsell, it was Marsden who officiated. Said to be friendly and intelligent, Wharepoaka had many relationships with Pākehā, and formed a lasting relationship with the missionary Samuel Marsden. Wharepoaka lived at the large kāinga of Rangihoua, which in 1814 became the home of New Zealand’s first mission station. He grew in importance during the 1820s and 1830s alongside his brother-in-law Waikato (who was married to Wharepoaka’s sister Hira). When Ruatara died in 1815, Wharepoaka became the principal military leader of Te Hikutū. His sister Rahu was married to Ruatara, the leading rangatira of Te Hikutū, while Karuhi married the Danish trader Phillip Tapsell (Tapsell’s acceptance in Maketū was helped by Wharepoaka’s marriage to a high-born woman of Te Arawa). ![]() An important rangatira of Te Hikutū, Wharepoaka also had a number of notable brothers and sisters, including Wharemōkaikai, Te Uri-o-Kanae, Rahu and Karuhi. Wharepoaka was the son of Rākau, an influential tohunga (spiritual leader) based at Rangihoua.
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