Hōniana Te Puni (died 5 December 1870) was a

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 ...

leader and government member who played a significant role in the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

region in the early to mid 19th century. Te Puni belonged to the Ngāti Te Whiti and Ngāti Tawhirikura hapū of Te Ātiawa. Born in

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

his mother was Te Puku and his father was the chief Rerewha-i-te-rangi. He acquired the name 'Te Puni-kokopu' ('puni' for pool, 'kokopu' for fresh water fish) as a young man, when to escape an invading force attacking Rewarewa pa (located near to present-day

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

) he and his father's younger brother Raua-ki-tua leapt from the pa down a cliff-face into the Waiwhakaiho River and swam to safety. Te Puni was closely associated with his younger cousin Te Wharepōuri. In about 1820 the two were part of the defence of Pukerangiora pa in Taranaki, and in 1822 both were part of the battle against

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

fighters at

Motunui Motunui (''large island'' in Māori, from ''Motu Nui'') is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, six kilometres east of Waitara ...

. He and Te Wharepōuri made contact with whalers and traders

Dicky Barrett Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' from 2004 until 2022. Barrett is ...

and Jacky Love in Ngamotu (now New Plymouth) in the 1820s. In about 1828 Te Puni sailed to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on board the ''Tohora''. In 1832, realising that the invasions from Waikato iwi were not going to cease, a large number of Te Ati Awa, including Te Puni, Te Wharepōuri, Te Puni's uncle Raua-ki-tua, Ngatata-i-te-rangi and his son

Wi Tako Ngātata Wiremu Tako Ngātata (1815 – 8 November 1887) was a New Zealand Te Āti Awa leader, peacemaker and politician. Wi Tako's father signed the Treaty of Waitangi in April 1840. That decade, Wi Tako was also involved in the early settling of Welli ...

, and the families of Love and Barrett, migrated overland south to

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

and

Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of th ...

(Wellington Harbour). The migration is known as Te Heke Tama-te-uaua. Over the next few years Te Puni moved around the wider Wellington region, settling for times in Waikanae, near

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

, in

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

, and on

Matiu / Somes Island Matiu / Somes Island is the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. The island is 24.9 hectares (62 acres) in area, and lies 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the suburb of Petone and the mouth of the Hut ...

. By 1836 Te Wharepōuri was settled in

Ngauranga Ngauranga is a suburb of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, in the lower North Island. Situated on the western bank of Wellington Harbour, it lies to the north of the centre of the city. Ngauranga is lightly populated due to the rugged ...

and Te Puni was invited from Matiu / Somes Island to settle in Pito-one (present-day

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

). On 27 September 1839, Te Puni signed a deed of settlement with the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

that saw the purchase of much of the

Wellington region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is the southernmost regions of New Zealand, region of the North Island of New Zealand. The local government region covers an area of , and ...

by British settlers. Te Puni was also a signatory to the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

, signing Sheet 8, The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet, in Wellington on 29 April 1840. Te Puni died on 5 December 1870 and was buried in the family ūrūpa (cemetery) two days later with a funeral that came close in scale to a state funeral. The ship ''Rangatira'' sailed from Wellington to Petone carrying soldiers and the garrison band; banks, government offices and many shops were closed. The Bishop of Wellington,

Octavius Hadfield Octavius Hadfield (6 October 1814 – 11 December 1904) was Archdeacon of Kāpiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. He was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) for thirty years. H ...

, read the funeral service in Māori and three volleys were fired over Te Puni's grave by members of the Hutt Volunteers.

Memorials

The

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 ...

suburb of

Epuni Epuni is a suburb of Lower Hutt, situated in the Wellington region of New Zealand. The suburb lies around one kilometre east of the Lower Hutt CBD. The suburb takes its name from the Te Āti Awa chief Honiana Te Puni. In 2018 HNZ, which ...

is named after Te Puni; it is an erroneous form of the chief's name recorded by early Wellington settlers. Te Puni Street in Petone is named after his whanau (family), and an

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

stone memorial was erected in 1872 in his memory in the Te Puni ūrūpa (cemetery) two years after his death, designed by Colonial Architect William Clayton. In 1940 Deputy Prime Minister

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 ...

laid a wreath at the memorial as part of commemorations of Wellington's centennial. Te Puni is depicted on a large glass window on the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial welcoming British settlers to the harbour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Punikokopu Honiana 1870 deaths Te Āti Awa people Signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand Māori public servants Year of birth missing History of Wellington