Mita Taupopoki ( – 14 January 1935) was a notable

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 ...

tribal leader of New Zealand. He identified with Ngāti Wāhiao, a

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 ...

(subtribe) of the

Tūhourangi Tūhourangi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand with a rohe centered on Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Okaro, Lake Okareka, Lake Rotokākahi, Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotorua. They have 3 marae, Te Pakira Marae in Whakarewarewa, Hinemihi (Te Pa ...

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 ...

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Lake Rotorua , image = Lake Rotorua.jpg , caption = Lake Rotorua , alt = Lake Rotorua , image_bathymetry = , pushpin_map=New Zealand#North Island , pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Rotorua , pushpin_relief=yes , caption_bathymetry = , location = R ...

, New Zealand, probably in 1845 or 1846. His father, Hēmana Te Whareiro of Ngāti Wāhiao, lived mostly at

Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning ''The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao'', often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupo Volcanic ...

. His mother, Kanea II, was of Tūhourangi, and the Ngāti Tūnohopū hapū of

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

. In 1864 Mita joined other Te Arawa who fought for the government in the wars of the 1860s. He returned to Whakarewarewa in 1874. In 1883 he represented several hapū of Ngāti Wāhiao in the Native Land Court in a case relating to land claimed by Ngāti Whakaue, including Whakarewarewa, and succeeded in claims to the land on the east side of the Puarenga Stream at Whakarewarewa, although other land was won by Ngāti Whakaue. His success in the land court contributed to a recognition of his leadership among the wider Tūhourangi, in addition to within Ngāti Wāhiao. The

1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera In 1886, a violent eruption occurred at Mount Tarawera, near the city of Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island. At an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5, the eruption is the largest and deadliest in New Zealand during the past 500 years, w ...

killed many Tūhourangi, and survivors took refuge with Mita and his people at Whakarewarewa and

Ōhinemutu Ohinemutu or Ōhinemutu is a suburb in Rotorua, New Zealand. It includes a living Māori village and the original settlement of Rotorua. Demographics The statistical area of Kuirau, which corresponds to Ohinemutu, covers and had an estimated p ...

. Mita continued to act in the Native Land Court, representing Tūhourangi, and in 1887 won recognition of their claims of the 211,000-acre Rotomahana–Parekārangi block. In 1910 he toured Australia, England and the United States with Maggie Papakura's cultural group. He died in hospital in Rotorua on 14 January 1935.

References

1845 births 1935 deaths Te Arawa people Tuhourangi people {{Māori-bio-stub