Hone Tana Papahia (1856 – 9 February 1912) was a New Zealand Anglican clergyman, missionary. 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 Ngāpuhi

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 ...

and Te Horohuhare and Ngati Haua

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 opera ...

of Te Rarawa iwi. He was the son of Wiremu Tana Papahia. He was born in Orongotea on the north-west shore of the Hokianga Harbour in about 1856. He attended the native teachers' institute at the Kaitaia Mission of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

(CMS), where he was trained by the Rev. Joseph Matthews. From 1885 to 1887 he attended Te Rau Kahikatea Theological College at Gisborne, where he studied under the Rev. William Leonard, and his nephew the Rev. Alfred Owen Williams, both members of the CMS. On 27 March 1887 in St George's Church at Thames, Papahia was admitted as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

by the Bishop of Auckland, William Cowie. From 28 March 1887 to 1905 he worked as a missionary to the Māori in the Waiparera district from Hokianga to

Ahipara Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, ...

. On 10 January 1892 he was appointed a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. From 1894 to 1903 he was the chaplain to Bishop Cowie and then his successor Bishop Neligan from 1903 to 1911. He was also appointed in 1905 as the assistant to the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Hector Alfred Hawkins, the superintendent of the Māori Mission of the Auckland Diocese.

References

1856 births 1912 deaths New Zealand Māori religious leaders New Zealand Anglican priests New Zealand Anglican missionaries People from the Hokianga Ngāpuhi people Te Rarawa people Anglican missionaries in New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand Anglican priests 19th-century New Zealand Anglican priests {{Māori-bio-stub