Ana Hamu was a

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 ...

woman of the

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 16 ...

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, ...

(tribe) in northern

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She was a woman of high rank and the owner of the land occupied by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) at

Paihia Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is 60 kilometres north of Whangārei, located close to the historic towns of Russell and Kerikeri. Missionary Henry Williams ...

. Hamu was baptised on 5 October 1834 by the Revd. Henry Williams and adopted the name Ana. Hamu was the widow of Te Koki, a chief of Te Uri-o-Ngongo

Hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...

. They had at least two children together, Te Ahara and Rangituke. Hamu was a close relative to

Eruera Maihi Patuone Eruera Maihi Patuone (c.1764 – 19 September 1872) was a Māori rangatira (chief), the son of the Ngāti Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not known, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he ...

. Hamu gave her signature to the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

on 6 February 1840, and was one of only a few women to sign the treaty. She was connected with the CMS Girls' School in Paihia, where she kept the Māori children within bounds by her presence. She was believed to be approximately 60 years old when she died in 1848.

References

Signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand Māori women Ngāpuhi people {{Māori-bio-stub