Īhāia Pōrutu Puketapu (7 February 1887 – 1 July 1971) was a New Zealand tribal leader, butcher, roading contractor and labourer. 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 Co ...

descent, he identified with the

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. He was born in

Waiwhetū Waiwhetū is an eastern suburb of Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. History In the 19th-century period of European settlement land at Waiwhetū was worked by Irish-born Alfred Lu ...

, New Zealand, on 7 February 1887.

Biography

As a young man, he was trained by the prophet Te Whiti at

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori people, Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre ...

, before returning to the Wellington region. A dedicated Christian, he was an advocator for

Christian pacifism Christian pacifism is the Christian theology, theological and Christian ethics, ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is inco ...

. He was active in the early

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...

and had close friendships with

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

and

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havi ...

; he was active in the campaign for the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945. He met with Fraser to reaffirm the ownership of the 100-acre block where he lived as having been set aside for Māori under the Wakefield land settlement so that the land there would be used for state built rental homes for Māori. He stood as a Labour candidate for the Lower Hutt City Council, unsuccessfully, at the 1947 local-body elections. Puketapu married Amiria Ake Ake, in

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was establishe ...

about 1907, but she died in 1916. He remarried

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

Vera May Yeates (1904–1991) on 15 March 1930, at Wellington. They had many children, including Ihakara Puketapu and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet. One of his sons Te Rira (Teri) Puketapu was a Lower Hutt City Councillor from 1974 to 1989. A builder by trade Teri built and renovated the Waiwhetū marae. In the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours, Puketapu was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for social welfare services to Māori youth. Puketapu died in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

on 1 July 1971, aged 84.

Notes

References

* 1887 births 1971 deaths Te Āti Awa people New Zealand butchers People from Lower Hutt New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Parihaka {{Māori-bio-stub