TE HEUHEU III, or IWIKAU (?1790-1862) was the younger brother of Te Heuheu I, and for many years his war leader. He was smallish in stature, slighter in build and less prepossessing in appearance.

A brave and determined warrior, Iwikau took part in most of his brother's expeditions and led in battle, though it is said his brother planned the operations. In 1832 at the battle at Putikiwaranui, on the Whanganui river, he crossed the river and carried out an effective flank attack. Fearing the firearms of the northern tribes, Iwikau accompanied the Rev Henry Williams to Bay of Islands in Jan 1840 and affixed his signature to the Treaty of Waitangi. This act Te Heuheu repudiated emphatically.

In 1841, against the wish of Te Heuheu, Iwikau accompanied Tauteka and Herekiekie in their expedition against Ngati-Ruanui and Nga Rauru. Wiremu Kingi te Matakatea and Te Anaua tried to dissuade them from proceeding, and Iwikau returned when the taua reached Putiki. In 1844 he went south again with Te Heuheu to avenge the losses of this expedition but was persuaded to return by Bishop Selwyn, officials and missionaries. Shortly after his accession as leader (1846), he made a final peace with the Taranaki tribes.

Fearing another landslide, Iwikau removed his pa from Te Rapa to Pukawa. He strongly resented the treatment to which Maori chiefs of rank were sometimes subjected by Europeans, and the steady encroachment of the pakeha upon their lands and mana. He was a warm friend of Governor Grey, and paid a visit to Auckland in 1847 to be present at his swearing in as Governor-in-chief. He was then oldish, with a grey beard but hair still black. Grey gave him a horse, and next year made a noteworthy journey to Taupo in his company, Iwikau going to Auckland to escort him. Cooper's journal of this visit shows that the Ngati-Tuwharetoa were still heathens, but in 1850 Iwikau set aside land at Pukawa, near his new pa, for a mission station. This was opened by the Rev T. S. Grace (q.v.), who became a close personal friend of Iwikau and a staunch supporter of peace during the troubled years that followed. Though restrained by missionary influence from fighting, Iwikau made many journeys in the interests of peace, notably in 1857 when he went to Hawkes Bay to curb Te Hapuku. Grace considered him 'a fine honest chief of the Maori race. With all his faults, he was the noblest Maori I ever met.' He was a constant attendant at church services but refused to put away his wives in order that he might be baptised.

Feeling deeply the grievances and the imminent extinction of the Maori race, Iwikau sympathised with the King movement from its inception, but he opposed Matene te Whiwhi's first overtures in 1853 lest Potatau should be elected king over himself. He was much impressed by the meeting in the Ngati-Ruanui country in 1854 and the rise of the land league. A few months later Iwikau himself convened a meeting to be held at Pukawa. A Roman Catholic mission had been established at Waihi, and on this occasion a number of priests were present and the French flag was hoisted. In the following year the king was elected. Te Heuheu regarded the movement as being peaceful and altruistic, and continued his efforts to compose the disputes of the tribes. In 1857 he went with Grace to the Whanganui to make peace, but was fired upon, and after persevering for three days he retired without succeeding. In proceeding to the King meeting in 1857 he spoke strongly to Governor Browne at Rangiriri and Otawhao about the insulting treatment of Maori chiefs, the desertion of half-caste children by their fathers, and other native grievances.

Throughout the Taranaki war Iwikau remained quietly at his own place trying to restrain his people. This became increasingly difficult in their enthusiasm for the King movement, and his fierce temper suffered much irritation. He supported both Potatau and Tawhiao, and admitted sorrowfully that if Waikato became involved in the war his people would have to join in. Shortly before his death he became reconciled with Herekiekie. His death, which was ascribed to the fact of some native children having broken up a tapu canoe, took place in Oct 1862. His principal wife, Ruingarangi, survived him. Iwikau was succeeded by his nephew, Pataatai, or Tukino.

Personal information from Sir Apirana Ngata, J. H. Grace and F. O. V. Acheson; Cowan; Angas(p); Grace; Thomson; Buick, Waitangi; Selwyn, Annals; Proc. of Maori Parliament, 1857; Taranaki Herald, 6 Dec 1862.

Reference: Volume 1, page 209

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