Tene Waitere (1853–1931) was a notable 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 ...

carver from the Rotorua district. He identified with the

Ngāti Tarāwhai Ngāti Tarāwhai is a Māori iwi of the Rotorua area of New Zealand, and a member of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. The iwi's rohe (tribal area) covers the western shore of Lake Ōkataina. The tribe's carving has been noted historically ...

and

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'').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, ...

. His mother was Ani Pape, the daughter of Te Rāhui, a Ngāti Tarāwhai leader. As a young girl, she was captured by

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 16 ...

during an attack on Rotorua in 1823 and taken as a slave to Northland, where she was forced to marry a Waitere. Tene Waitere was born probably in 1853 or 1854 at Mangamuka. When Tene was a few years old an uncle brought him, his elder sister Mereana Waitere and their mother to Ruatō, on Lake Rotoiti. There he was trained as a carver by

Wero Tāroi Wero Tāroi (c.1810–1880), also known as Wero Mahikore and Karu, was a notable New Zealand Māori carver of the Ngāti Tarāwhai iwi. He was born at Lake Okataina, in the Rotorua district in New Zealand, and active from about 1860.https:/ ...

and Ānaha Te Rāhui. He married Ruihi Te Ngahue of

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 ...

and they had one child, a daughter Tuhipō. One of Tuhipō's children was Rangitiaria Dennan, better known as Guide Rangi. Eramiha Neke Kapua, another carver, was Waitere's nephew, son of his sister Mereana. Some of Waitere's carvings included Tiki-a-Tamamutu, Hinemihi, the Kearoa whakawae (door jam) and Rauru, and in the 1900s worked on the

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 ...

model village near Rotorua.

References

1853 births 1931 deaths New Zealand Māori carvers People from the Hokianga Te Arawa people Ngāti Tarāwhai people Spanish flu monuments and memorials {{NewZealand-artist-stub