Mahuta Tāwhiao I ( – 9 November 1912) was the third

Māori King 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 ...

, reigning from 1894 to 1912, and member of the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council () was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of New Zealand Legislative Council (1841–1853), legislative councils for the colony and provinces ...

from 1903 to 1910.

Early life

Born Whatiwhatihoe in the

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 ...

, probably in 1854 or 1855, Mahuta was the eldest son of King

Tāwhiao ''Kīngitanga, Kīngi'' Tāwhiao (Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao, ; c. 1822 – 26 August 1894), known initially as Matutaera, reigned as the Māori King Movement, Māori King from 1860 until his death. After his flight to ...

and his first wife Hera. Mahuta had many half-brothers and -sisters from his father's other marriages and connections. During his childhood in the 1860s,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

was embroiled in war and in his adolescence his family took refuge in the isolated

King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...

, so Mahuta received very little European education, spoke little English and was very much a traditionalist. During his twenties, Mahuta married Te Marae, a daughter of Amukete (Amuketi) Te Kerei, a chief who was killed at the Battle of Rangiriri in 1863. They had five sons: Te Rata (who succeeded Mahuta as king), Taipu, Tumate,

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

and Te Rauangaanga.

Reign as king

When his father died in August 1894, Mahuta was made Māori King, taking the throne on 15 September of that year. Under Mahuta's rule, the

King Movement King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

's first courts were created, with judges, clerks and registrars. However, his nation weakened greatly by the turn of the century. The

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

had very little land, and population crises and poverty ravaged them. Through a series of deals with colonial authorities, including joining the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, Mahuta regained a little influence for his people, though the last years of his life were fraught with personal troubles. He was a member of the

from 22 May 1903 to 21 May 1910, when his term ended. He was appointed by the

Liberal Government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

, and was a Minister without Portfolio and a Member of the Executive Council from 22 June 1903 to 21 June 1906 in the Seddon Ministry and 21 June 1906 to 6 August 1906 in the interim Hall-Jones Ministry. During his time on the Legislative Council, Mahuta delegated the kingship to his younger brother Te Wherowhero Tawhiao. He died at Waahi on 9 November 1912 and was buried on Taupiri Mountain.

References

External links

Biography
at Te Ara {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero 1850s births 1912 deaths Māori politicians Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Māori MLCs New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs Māori monarchs Ngāti Mahuta people Waikato Tainui people People from Waikato 19th-century monarchs in Oceania 20th-century monarchs in Oceania