Hōniana Te Puni (died 5 December 1870) was a Te Ati Awa leader and government member who played a significant role in the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

region in the early to mid 19th century. Te Puni belonged to the Ngāti Te Whiti and Ngāti Tawhirikura hapū of Te Ātiawa. Born in

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

his mother was Te Puku and his father was the chief Rerewha-i-te-rangi. He acquired the name 'Te Puni-kokopu' ('puni' for pool, 'kokopu' for fresh water fish) as a young man, when to escape an invading force attacking Rewarewa pa (located near to present-day

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

) he and his father's younger brother Raua-ki-tua leapt from the pa down a cliff-face into the Waiwhakaiho River and swam to safety. Te Puni was closely associated with his younger cousin Te Wharepōuri. In about 1820 the two were part of the defence of Pukerangiora pa in Taranaki, and in 1822 both were part of the battle against

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

fighters at

Motunui Motunui (''large island'' in Māori, from ''Motu Nui'') is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, six kilometres east of Waitara. ...

. He and Te Wharepōuri made contact with whalers and traders

Dicky Barrett Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' until 2022. Barrett is known fo ...

and Jacky Love in Ngamotu (now New Plymouth) in the 1820s. In about 1828 Te Puni sailed to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on board the ''Tohora''. In 1832, realising that the invasions from Waikato iwi were not going to cease, a large number of Te Ati Awa, including Te Puni, Te Wharepōuri, Te Puni's uncle Raua-ki-tua, Ngatata-i-te-rangi and his son

Wi Tako Ngātata Wiremu Tako Ngātata (1815 – 8 November 1887) was a New Zealand Te Āti Awa leader, peacemaker and politician. He was appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council on 11 October 1872; he was (with Mokena Kohere) one of the first two Māori ...

, and the families of Love and Barrett, migrated overland south to

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet". The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōtak ...

and

Te Whanganui-a-Tara Te Whanganui-a-Tara is the Māori name for Wellington Harbour. The term is also used to refer to the city of Wellington which lies on the shores of the harbour. ''Te Whanganui-a-Tara'' translates as "the great harbour of Tara", named for Tara, a s ...

(Wellington Harbour). The migration is known as Te Heke Tama-te-uaua. Over the next few years Te Puni moved around the wider Wellington region, settling for times in Waikanae, near

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

, in

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

, and on

Matiu / Somes Island Matiu / Somes Island is the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. It is the former site of military and quarantine internments, as well as animal quarantine until 1995. Since 1995 it has been designat ...

. By 1836 Te Wharepōuri was settled in

Ngauranga Ngauranga is a suburb of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, in the lower North Island. Situated on the western bank of Wellington Harbour, it lies to the north of the centre of the city. The name comes from the Maori-language ''ngā ūra ...

and Te Puni was invited from Matiu / Somes Island to settle in Pito-one (present-day

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

). On 27 September 1839, Te Puni signed a deed of settlement with the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

that saw the purchase of much of the

Wellington region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of T ...

by British settlers. Te Puni was also a signatory to the

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

, signing Sheet 8, The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet, in Wellington on 29 April 1840. Te Puni died on 5 December 1870 and was buried in the family ūrūpa (cemetery) two days later with a funeral that came close in scale to a state funeral. The ship ''Rangatira'' sailed from Wellington to Petone carrying soldiers and the garrison band; banks, government offices and many shops were closed. The Bishop of Wellington,

Octavius Hadfield Octavius Hadfield (6 October 1814 – 11 December 1904) was Archdeacon of Kapiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. He was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) for thirty years. H ...

, read the funeral service in Māori and three volleys were fired over Te Puni's grave by members of the Hutt Volunteers.

Memorials

The

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 ...

suburb of

Epuni Epuni is a suburb of Lower Hutt, New Zealand situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb lies around one kilometre east of the Lower Hutt CBD. The suburb takes its name from the Te Āti Awa chief Honiana Te Puni. In 2 ...

is named after Te Puni; it is an erroneous form of the chief's name recorded by early Wellington settlers. Te Puni Street in Petone is named after his whanau (family), and an

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

stone memorial was erected in 1872 in his memory in the Te Puni ūrūpa (cemetery) two years after his death, designed by Colonial Architect William Clayton. In 1940 Deputy Prime Minister

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 ...

laid a wreath at the memorial as part of commemorations of Wellington's centennial. Te Puni is depicted on a large glass window on the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial welcoming British settlers to the harbour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Puni-kokopu, Honiana 1870 deaths Te Āti Awa people Signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand Māori public servants Year of birth missing History of Wellington