Rangi Kuīni Wikitōria Topeora (?–1865-1873?) was a notable New Zealand tribal leader or chief, peacemaker and composer of waiata. 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, she identified with the Ngāti Toa

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 ...

Biography

Topeora was born in Kawhia,

King Country The King Country (Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from the Kawhia Harbour and the town of Otorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, perhaps in 1790. Topeara was a niece of significant chief Te Rauparaha, her brother was chief Te Rangihaeta. Her mother name was Waitohi and Te Rauparaha's sister. Her father's name was Te Rakiherea. She was a descendant of

Hoturoa According to Māori mythology, Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui (canoe), Tainui'' canoe, during the Māori migration canoes, migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor ...

of the

Tainui canoe In Māori tradition, ''Tainui'' was one of the great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand approximately 800 years ago. In Māori tradition, the ''Tainui'' waka was commanded by the chief Hoturoa, who had decided ...

. In the 1820s Topeora was part of the group that migrated south with Te Rauparaha from Kawhia ending firstly on Kāpiti Island. Topeora was a women chief of Ngāti Toa and spoke for her people, in 1836 she helped broker peace between Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Tama over a land dispute including getting her son Matene involved. Probably in her early 50s she signed the Treaty of Waitangi in Kāpiti on 14 May 1840. Topeora was known to speak formally on the marae which was mostly a role men undertook during this time. In 1861 she made a denunciation of the Kingitanga due to its distribution of the 'status quo' including writing to politician Donald McLean. She was baptised at Ōtaki on 2 May 1847, no name would satisfy her but Te Kuini (the Queen); one of her husbands was given the name Arapeta (Albert), after Queen Victoria's consort. Later she was commonly known as the 'Queen of the South'. Topeora composed a song called ''He Kai-oraora na Tope-ora'' which was a 'kaioraora', a cursing song to vent hatred at enemies. This song was because of deaths of some Ngāti Toa women by the iwi

Ngāti Pou Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand ...

. Another song she created was about a triumphant moment at the battle of Waiorua on Kāpiti Island where she forced the enemy to degradate themselves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topeora, Rangi Kuini Wikitoria Year of death uncertain Ngāti Toa people Signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand pacifists New Zealand singer-songwriters New Zealand Māori musicians Year of birth unknown 19th-century New Zealand people