TE WHEROWHERO POTATAU (?1800-60), a chief of the Ngati-Mahuta tribe of Waikato, was son of Te Rau-angaanga (son of Tuata, son of Tawhia, son of Te Putu); and was descended through Tapaue from Hoturoa, of the Tainui canoe. His mother was Te Parenga-ope of Ngati-Koura, whose father was of the Ngati-Mahuta. Te Rau-angaanga had the chief command of 1,600 Waikatos at the capture of the Ngati-Toa pa, Hikuparea, and was also at the siege of Te Totara, where he accepted the peace overtures made by Te Rauparaha. Te Wherowhero was born at Motuiri, and his own pa (Kaitote) was at the foot of Mount Taupiri and was famous for its kumara grounds. He also had cultivations at Whatawhata. He led the Waikato taua in 1819 which, in co-operation with Ngati-Maniapoto, attacked the Ngati-Toa for the death of Te Uira. He also commanded the allies in the attack on the entrenchment at Te Motunui (1822), where his father engaged in incantations to the stars for the success of the battle. The first attack was successful, but in the counter-attack the Ngati-Toa pressed the Waikato forces hard and Te Wherowhero fought desperately against overwhelming numbers. Te Rauparaha allowed the defeated Waikato to join Tu-Korehu in Pukerangiora and to withdraw with him to the north. In 1822 Te Wherowhero made peace with the Ngapuhi after the battle of Matakitaki, the peace being sealed by the marriage of his younger brother, Kati (afterwards christened as 'Jabez Bunting') to Matire-toha (the daughter of Rewa), who was the pupil of Mrs Kemp at Kerikeri.

About this time Te Wherowhero first had intercourse with white people, particularly Captain Kent, who was settled at Kawhia, and the missionaries Stack, Hamlin, Henry Williams and Morgan. In 1824 he summoned Tiakitai of the Ngati-Kahungunu to Waikato to conclude a peace after the fall of Pakake. His daughter Tiria was married about 1826 to a pakeha living at Kawhia Heads. At the battle of Pukerangiora in 1831 Te Wherowhero is said to have slain 200 of the enemy with his own hand. In 1833 he returned to Taranaki, and captured many prisoners at the siege of the Sugar Loaf. In the following year, with Waharoa, he led an expedition against the Ngati-Ruanui with the object of killing Te Rei Hanataua (q.v.). They failed to take his pa (Te Ruaki) by assault but starved the defenders and captured the chief who, however, escaped after the attack on Ngateko. Te Wherowhero then asked for peace. Peace was accordingly concluded, and he returned to Waikato. When the treaty of Waitangi was brought to Te Wherowhero by the Rev R. Maunsell and Tipene Tahatika for his signature he refused to sign, complaining that he had been slighted in not being summoned to Waitangi. At a later date his signature was affixed by Te Kahawai, and his brother Kati also signed, these being the only two Waikato signatures. In 1841 Te Wherowhero accompanied Governor Hobson to Wellington, and visited Te Rauparaha at Kapiti. He then claimed all of Taranaki by right of conquest, but in 1842 sold his rights to the New Zealand Company. When Angas visited Kaitote pa in 1844 he found an orderly open quadrangle and a chapel in which Te Wherowhero, though not a Christian, attended service. He offered land to the Government to induce pakeha to settle in the Waikato. In that year also Te Wherowhero attended the great review of Waikato warriors at Remuera, which impressed Governor FitzRoy with the conviction that the safety of Auckland was due to the forbearance of the Waikato people. Te Wherowhero warned Heke that he would defend the town against any attack from the north. He was now much under the influence of the missionaries and declined to undertake tribal wars. The chief next in rank to him (Te Paki), who was a great tohunga and an eloquent speaker, was baptised before 1844 and was a steadfast Christian. After the arrival of Governor Grey land was allotted to the Waikato tribes at Mangere, and Te Wherowhero took up his residence there, becoming a close personal friend of the Governor, who erected for him a cottage at Pukekawa (near the Auckland domain) as a town house. At the end of 1847 he made an impassioned speech at the trial of Ngamuka for the murder of the Snow family. He was in the Governor's suite on his visit to Whanganui in 1847, and he and Nene acted as sureties for the good behaviour of Te Rauparaha during his detention in the north from 1846. In Jan 1848 he accompanied Grey in the warship to return the fallen chief to his people at Otaki. As the Waikato tribes could put 5,000 men in the field in 1856 this friendship was invaluable.

It was therefore not without reluctance that Te Wherowhero in 1857 accepted election as the first Maori 'King'. He was at one with the leaders of the movement in the desire to protect the Maori against the loss of their lands unless they desired to sell, but never sought for himself the honour of kingship, which he knew was liable to bring him under the displeasure of the Queen's representative. He protested that 'he was only a snail'. At the end of 1857 he consented to live at Ngaruawahia so that he could curb tribal fighting, and he was installed there in Apr 1858. As events developed he became inevitably estranged from the confidence of the Governor, and complained to Donald McLean that he was no longer consulted when measures of great importance were being considered. Nevertheless, Governor Browne's confidence in Te Wherowhero was still proof against the importunities of anti-Maori influences that he should be imprisoned. His honour remained untarnished. Te Wherowhero was not only a warrior of great prowess, he was an eloquent orator and versed in the literature of the race. He was six feet in height and had a square, massive head covered with iron grey curly hair. Te Wherowhero died on 25 Jun 1860 and was succeeded by his son Matutaera as Potatau II (q.v.). His brother Kati predeceased him in 1856.

Proceedings of Maori Parliament, 1857; Marshall; Gisborne; Lambert; S. P. Smith; H. T. Kemp in N.Z. Herald, 9 Mar 1901; Polyn. Jour., ix, 34, 90-95, 109, 162; x, 82: xiii, 64-68; xviii, 56-69, 113-120, 176; xix, 21, 60-75, 134; xxiv, 71; xxviii, 28; xxix, 157, 158; xxx, 49; White, Anc. Hist., iii, 69; iv, 64; v, 45, 174, 177, 187; vi, 3, 16-22, 58, 90, 91; Shortland, 4; Dom. Museum Bulletins, iv, 164, 301; vi, 284, 285; Trans. N.Z. Inst., vols. v, xxiv, xxx, xxix, xl, xlii.

Reference: Volume 2, page 248

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