TARATOA, NEPIA, or MAUKIRINGUTU (? 1793-1863), chief of the Ngati-Parewahawaha hapu of Ngati-Raukawa who resided at Manawatu in 1842, was a son of Teteke and Te Au. He raised an army against Waikato and displayed great bravery in command of a small force of 60, when Pomare with 800 men was only a few miles away. He also showed great bravery against the Ngati-Kahungunu. Taratoa was a friend of Te Rauparaha, and his daughter married the eldest son of Whatanui. Anxious to acquire European articles, he moved from Maungatautari to Kapiti about 1828. This migration was called the heke Kariritahi, because the warriors enlarged the touch-holes of their guns. By agreement with Whatanui and Te Rauparaha, Taratoa was given mana over the Rangitikei district, where E. J. Wakefield met him in 1842. Like Whatanui he treated kindly the dispossessed tribe on his lands (in this case the Ngati-Apa). He died at Matahiwi, Rangitikei, on 14 Jan 1863.

After Taratoa's death his son, Nepia Maukiringutu, opposed the sale of the block, but he was overborne by Kawana Hunia and other Ngati-Apa chiefs, who in concert with Keepa te Rangihiwinui revived their claim to the conquered lands and brought armed forces fresh from the war to enforce it.

E. J. Wakefield; Buick, Old Manawatu; T. C. Williams, New Zealand-the Manawatu Purchase Completed, 1867, A Letter to the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone ... on behalf of the Ngati-Raukawa Tribe, 1873.

Reference: Volume 2, page 187

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