Wiremu "Wi" Pere (7 March 1837 – 9 December 1915), was a

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 ...

Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He represented Eastern Māori in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1884 to 1887, and again from 1893 to 1905. Pere's strong criticism of the government's Māori land policies and his involvement in the turbulent land wars in the 1860s and 1870s made him a revered Māori leader and he was known throughout his career as an contentious debator and outstanding orator in the use of the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

Biography

Wi Pere was born in 1837 at Tūranga ( Gisborne), the son of English Poverty Bay trader Thomas Halbert and esteemed Māori Rīria Mauaranui of Te Whānau-a-Kai hapū of

Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki is one of the three principal Māori iwi of the Tūranga district; the others being Rongowhakaata and Ngai Tamanuhiri. It is numerically the largest of the three, with 6,258 affiliated members as of 2013. The rohe (territo ...

and

Rongowhakaata Rongowhakaata is a Māori '' iwi'' of the Gisborne region of New Zealand. Hapū and marae There are three primary ''hapū'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngati Kaipoho, Ngai Tawhiri and Ngati Maru. Ngāti Kaipoho Ngāti Kaipoho descend f ...

. Pere was baptised William Halbert but commonly went by his Maori name, Wiremu Pere (William Bell). From a young age Pere was noted for his shrewdness and identified by elders as having exceptional intelligence. He was raised largely under the tutelage of his mother and was schooled in tribal lore and genealogy by Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki iwi elders of the Maraehinahina whare

wānanga In the education system of New Zealand, a wānanga is a publicly-owned tertiary institution that provides education in a Māori cultural context. Section 162 of the New Zealand Education Act of 1989 specifies that wānanga resemble mainstrea ...

. This formed the basis of his authority in land dealings and

Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

proceedings from the 1870s. The local Anglican mission also identified Pere as an emerging leader, and he became a member of the first standing committee of the

Diocese of Waiapu The Diocese of Waiapu is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area around the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, including Tauranga, Ta ...

. In 1856, Pere married Arapera Matenga Toti at Waerenga-a-hika.

Political career

In 1865, as

Pai Marire Pai or PAI may refer to: People * Pai (surname), Indian surname from coastal Karnataka and Goa plus people with the name * Pai (Chinese surname), includes Chinese name origin, plus people with the name Fictional characters * Pai (Manga charact ...

emissaries gained support in Poverty Bay and tensions grew amid local iwi, Wi Pere remained a government supporter and constant to his Anglican allegiance. However, despite this, he protested against the exile of Poverty Bay Māori to the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

, and strongly opposed the government's attempts to confiscate their land. Through his work in the Repudiation movement to support Māori land owners, Pere became an important Māori leader in the region and gained wide support in his first bid for Parliament in 1884. Pere attracted much attention when he won the Eastern Māori seat in the 1884 general election. As the fourth representative for the electorate, Pere spoke strongly against the Native Land Court's actions of giving land title to individuals, believing land should be owned by hapū (sub-tribes) or whānau (family). He also joined the Kotahitanga movement and supported its efforts to establish a separate Māori Parliament. In both the 1887 and 1890 elections Pere lost the Eastern Māori seat to James Carroll, who was opposed to the Kotahitanga separatist movement. When Carroll stood down in 1893 to contest the Gisborne (European) seat, Pere won Eastern Maori back as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He served a further four terms before losing the seat to

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...

in the 1905 general election. Pere was appointed to the Legislative Council on 22 January 1907, where he was effectively the only Māori member. By this time Pere had become a strong empire loyalist. He offered to lead a Māori contingency to the South African war of 1899–1902 and urged military training for all New Zealanders. Pere was unseated from the Legislative Council in 1912.

Death and legacy

Wi Pere died on 9 December 1915, and was buried in a vault at Waerenga-a-Hika on 3 January 1916. In his eulogy Apirana Ngata remarked: "No man ever did more for his people...never was there a greater fighter for his race than Wi Pere". As a final tribute to Wi Pere, a monument was erected along Reads Quay, Gisborne in 1919 to coincide with the return of Māori troops from war. It was unveiled on 9 April 1919 by Hon. James Carroll. Māori historian Rongowhakaata Pere Halbert was a grandson of Wi Pere.

External links

Wi Pere TrustWiremu Pere Biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pere, Wi 1837 births 1915 deaths Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand Liberal Party MPs New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Māori MLCs People from Gisborne, New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1887 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1890 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election 19th-century New Zealand politicians Rongowhakaata people Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki people Halbert-Kohere family