Īhāia Pōrutu Puketapu (7 February 1887 – 1 July 1971) was a New Zealand tribal leader, butcher, roading contractor and labourer. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, he identified with the Te Āti Awa

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. He was born in

Waiwhetū Waiwhetū is an eastern suburb of Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. In the 19th-century period of European settlement it was worked by Irish-born Alfred Ludlam, who was a member of thr ...

, New Zealand, on 7 February 1887.

Biography

As a young man, he was trained by the prophet Te Whiti at Parihaka, before returning to the Wellington region. A dedicated Christian, he was an advocator for Christian pacifism. He was active in the early

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

and had close friendships with

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

and

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

; he was active in the campaign for the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945. He met with Fraser to reaffirm the ownership of the 100-acre block where he lived as having been set aside for Māori under the Wakefield land settlement so that the land there would be used for state built rental homes for Māori. He stood as a Labour candidate for the Lower Hutt City Council, unsuccessfully, at the 1947 local-body elections. Puketapu married Amiria Ake Ake, in

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established i ...

about 1907, but she died in 1916. He remarried

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

Vera May Yeates (1904–1991) on 15 March 1930, at Wellington. They had many children, including

Ihakara Puketapu Ihakara Porutu "Kara" Puketapu is a leader of the Te Āti Awa iwi in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. . Kara was born to Īhāia Pōrutu (Paddy) Puketapu of the Te Āti Awa iwi and Taranaki-born Vera May Yeates (1904 – 16 March 1991), a P� ...

and

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (née Puketapu, 28 January 1941 – 23 July 2006) was a noted New Zealand weaver and author. A key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance, she helped change perceptions of Māori weaving/raranga from craft to int ...

. One of his sons Te Rira (Teri) Puketapu was a Lower Hutt City Councillor from 1974 to 1989. A builder by trade Teri built and renovated the Waiwhetū marae. In the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours, Puketapu was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for social welfare services to Māori youth. Puketapu died in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

on 1 July 1971, aged 84.

Notes

References

* 1887 births 1971 deaths Te Āti Awa people New Zealand butchers People from Lower Hutt New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Parihaka {{Māori-bio-stub