Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (16 June 1906 – 18 May 1966) was the fifth

Māori King 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 ...

. He was the elder son of the fourth Māori King, Te Rata Mahuta, and Te Uranga Matai of the Ngāti Korokī tribe. He was named Korokī after the ancestor of his mother's tribe.

Biography

Korokī was born at Waahi,

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

, on 16 June 1906. He had a younger brother Taipu, who died in 1924, shortly after arriving at Wesley College. Korokī had a relationship with Te Paea Raihe, probably in the 1920s, and they had two daughters. In about 1930 Te Puea Herangi arranged for him to marry her niece Te Atairangikaahu, the daughter of her brother Wanakore Herangi. Te Atairangikaahu had a daughter,

Piki Piki is a bread made from blue corn meal used in Hopi cuisine. Preparation Blue corn, a staple grain of the Hopi, is first reduced to a fine powder on a metate. It is then mixed with water and burnt ashes of native bushes or juniper trees fo ...

, born in 1931. They adopted a son, Robert Mahuta, in 1939. Korokī and his family lived at Waahi. Korokī's father died on 1 October 1933, when Korokī was just 24. He was chosen to succeed his father as king and accepted reluctantly. He was crowned on 8 October 1933, the day of his father's funeral. In his first few years as king, he was closely supervised by his father's brothers Tumate and Tonga Mahuta, and Haunui Tawhiao, brother of his grandfather King Mahuta. Two of his main confidants and supporters were

Pei Te Hurinui Jones Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. He identified with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. As a leader of the Tainui confederation of iwi and of the Kingitanga mo ...

and

Piri Poutapu Wiremu "Piri" Te Ranga Poutapu (8 June 1905 – 20 August 1975) was a New Zealand Māori master carver and carpenter. He identified with the Ngāti Korokī and Waikato iwi. He was born in Maungatautari, Waikato, New Zealand in 1905. He ...

. In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. On 30 December 1953 he received Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

when she called at his official residence at

Tūrangawaewae Tūrangawaewae Marae is located in the town of Ngāruawāhia in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. A very significant marae, it is the headquarters for the Māori King Movement (''Te Kīngitanga'') and the official residence ...

marae at

Ngāruawāhia Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton U ...

during the coronation tour. He died at Ngāruawāhia on 18 May 1966 and was buried on

Mount Taupiri Mount Taupiri is a hill at the southern end of the Taupiri Range in the Waikato. The highest peak in the range, it rises to 288 metres above sea level and overlooks Taupiri township immediately to its south. It is separated from the Hakarimata Ra ...

on 23 May. He was succeeded by Piki, who was given her mother's name of Te Atairangikaahu at her coronation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahuta, Koroki Māori monarchs 1906 births 1966 deaths Ngāti Mahuta people Waikato Tainui people People from Huntly, New Zealand