Pōmare I (died 1826) was a New Zealand

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 ...

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

(chief) within the Ngāti Manu

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

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 165, ...

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 ...

(tribe). Formerly called Whētoi, he adopted the name of Pōmare, after the name of the king of Tahiti who had converted to Christianity. After his death he was called Pomarenui () by Ngati Manu in order to distinguish him from his nephew Whiria, who also took the name Pōmare. The Ngāti Manu originally lived at Tautoro, south of

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of over ...

, however disputes with the Ngāti Toki (

Ngāti Wai 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, ...

) in Pōmare’s lifetime forced them to move and settle at

Kororāreka Russell, known as Kororāreka in the early 19th century, was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. History and culture Māori settl ...

, Matauwhi, Otuihu, Waikare and Te Karetu on the southern shore of the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

. Pōmare I established a pā at Matauwhi, near to Kororāreka (now Russell), in what is now called Pomare Bay. Following the death of Pōmare I in 1826, his nephew Whiria adopted his uncle’s names, Whētoi and Pōmare, so Whiria is referred to as Pōmare II.

Relations with the Church Missionary Society (CMS)

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) arrived in the

in 1814. Pōmare supplied food and timber to the missionaries. He traded timber for tools and he also traded timber for

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

to provided security against the northern hapū within the Ngāpuhi, which was led by

Hongi Hika Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māori l ...

, Tareha, Ruatara, and Rewa (Manu) a chief of the Ngāti Tawake hapū of

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand. It is a tourist destination north of Auckland and north of the northern region's largest city, Whangarei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation, as it was the site of th ...

. At this time there was fighting between the hapū of the Ngāpuhi as well as intertribal fighting (known as the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms ra ...

). The Rev.

Henry Williams Henry Williams may refer to: Politicians * Henry Williams (activist) (born 2000), chief of staff of the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign * Henry Williams (MP for Northamptonshire) (died 1558), Member of Parliament (MP) for Northamptonshire ...

was appointed the leader of the CMS mission in 1823. He stopped the CMS trading muskets with the Ngāpuhi. However other Europeans continued to trade muskets with the Ngāpuhi and other Māori tribes. The missionaries regarded Pōmare as one of the important leaders in the Bay of Islands, together with

Te Whareumu Te Whareumu (died 1828) was the ariki and warrior chief of Ngāti Manu, a hapū within the Ngāpuhi iwi based in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. Te Whareumu was the most important chief in the Kororakeka area in his day. He was a warrior c ...

and Rakau. In July 1815 Pōmare went to visit Port Jackson (Sydney) in the missionary vessel ''Active''.

Pōmare I as a war leader

Pōmare I led a number of war parties against other

tribes: *In 1820 he engaged in a six-month siege of Te Whetu-matarau pā at Te Kawakawa (

Te Araroa Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's long distance tramping route, stretching circa along the length of the country's two main islands from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Officially opened in 2011, it is made up of a mixture of previously made ...

) in the East Cape region of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

; *In 1821 he joined

in the attack on the

Ngāti Pāoa Ngāti Pāoa is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes of New Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of the Hauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled on Hauraki ...

at the Mau-inaina pā at Mokoia ( Panmure) between the Waitematā and

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

s; then the Ngāpuhi attached the Ngāti Maru of Te Totara pā, in the Thames area; *In 1822 he led an attack on the Nga-uhi-a-po pā on Tuhua (Mayor Island), and then pursued the

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

of the eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

, up the Whakatane River valley and into

Te Urewera Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park. Te Urewera is ...

, the land of the

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

; *In 1823 he joined Hongi Hika in the attack on against the

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'').Mokoia Island __NOTOC__ Mokoia Island is located in Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. It has an area of 1.35 square kilometres. The uninhabited island is a rhyolite lava dome, rising to 180 metres above the lake surface. It was formed after the Rotorua caldera c ...

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 ...

. A dispute arose between Pōmare I and Hongi Hika over the conduct of the attack; *In 1824 he attacked the

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te ...

of the Kaipara. Later that year he joined Te Maitaranui of

and attacked

Wairoa Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

and took the Titirangi pā near

Lake Waikaremoana Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera in the North Island of New Zealand, 60 kilometres northwest of Wairoa and 80 kilometres west-southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of . From the Maori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling wat ...

; *In 1826 Pōmare I was killed during a raid in the

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 ...

Legacy

The death of Tiki, the son of Pōmare I, and the subsequent death of

in 1828 threw the

Hokianga The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. The original name, still used by local Māori, is ...

into a state of uncertainty as the Ngāpuhi chiefs debated whether revenge was necessary following the death of a chief. The Rev.

, Richard Davis and the chief

Tohitapu Tohitapu also known as Tohi or Toi-Tapu (died 14 July 1833) was a rangatira (chief) of the Te Roroa iwi (tribe) of Northland, New Zealand, and a tohunga and Māori warrior. An account told by a Ngāpuhi informant to British ethnographer John W ...

mediated between the combatants. As the chiefs did not want to escalate the fighting, a peaceful resolution was achieved. Pōmare I was succeeded as leader of the Ngāti Manu hapū by his nephew, Whiria, who took his uncle’s names, Whetoi and Pōmare.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomare I 1826 deaths People from the Northland Region Musket Wars New Zealand Māori people Ngāpuhi people