Rēnata Tama-ki-Hikurangi Kawepō (? – 14 April 1888) was a New Zealand Māori leader and missionary. 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, he identified with the

Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri 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 ...

and

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

iwi. He was born in Taumata-o-he Pa, west of what would become Hastings, in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. As a young man in 1827, he was among the Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri forces besieged at the island fortress on Lake Rotoatara (near

Te Aute Te Aute College (Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams, an Anglican missionary, and nephew and son-in-law of Bishop William Williams. It has a ...

) by a force of

Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti, Ngāti Te Whatu-i-āpiti or Ngāi Te Whatuiāpiti is a Māori hapū (subtribe or branch) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The hapū were descended from Te Whatuiāpiti, who was a great-grandson of ...

and Ngāpuhi led by

Te Pareihe Te Pareihe (?–1844) was a notable New Zealand tribal leader. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nat ...

. After a two month siege it became clear that the fortress was going to fall and he proposed that some of the defenders hand themselves over as hostages to secure safe passage for the rest. When no one else volunteered, he went by himself, saying ''kia kawe au ki te pō'' ("let me deliver myself up to the night!"), from which he took the name Kawepō. As a prisoner, he was taken first to Manawatu and later to Auckland.

William Colenso William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an accou ...

later brought him back to Hawke's Bay. He established St John's Church at

Omahu Omahu is a village in the Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "the place where Mahu ran out of food" for ''Ōmahu''. A missionary site w ...

. A memorial for him and those who fought alongside him in battle was placed in the cemetery of St John's Church by the government; approved in 1928 and completed in 1929.

References

Bibliography

* 1888 deaths New Zealand Anglican missionaries Ngāti Kahungunu people New Zealand Māori religious leaders Year of birth unknown Anglican missionaries in New Zealand People from Hawke's Bay {{NewZealand-reli-bio-stub