Horonuku Te Heuheu Tukino IV (1821–1888), also known as Patātai (also spelt Patatai or Pataatai), was paramount chief of

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...

, 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 Co ...

tribe of the central

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

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 ...

. His birth name was Patātai; he assumed the name Horonuku – meaning landslide – after the death of his parents in a landslide in 1846. He was placed under house arrest by the Crown. He gifted the mountains of Ruapehu,

Tongariro Mount Tongariro (; ) is a complex volcano, compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the ...

and

Ngauruhoe Mount Ngauruhoe () is a volcanic cone in New Zealand. It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro stratovolcano complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island and first erupted about 2,500 years ago. Although often regarded as a separat ...

in 1887 for the creation of

Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park (; ), located in the central North Island, is the oldest national park in New Zealand and the sixth national park established in the world.Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April ...

. Horonuku's father

Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II (died 7 May 1846) was a New Zealand Māori people, Māori tribal leader of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi. The eldest son of Herea Te Heuheu Tukino I and his first wife, Rangiaho of Ngāti Maniapoto, Mananui was born in ...

was a famous warrior who led the tribe successfully in many wars. Mananui allegedly stood well over two metres tall and was heavily built, and was not only a formidable warrior but also a fine military tactician. Horonuku succeeded him after his death in a landslide, but because he was at such a young age of 16, Mananui's brother,

Iwikau Te Heuheu Tūkino III Iwikau Te Heuheu Tūkino III (died October 1862) was a 19th century New Zealand Māori leader of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. T ...

, was put in control of the iwi. When Iwikau died in 1862 Horonuku succeeded his uncle as paramount chief. Although Horonuku was not renowned as a warrior he was an intelligent and far-sighted statesman who attempted to do the best for his people. In the 1860s Ngāti Tūwharetoa lands in the central North Island were leased to European settlers farming sheep, but a decade later the Tūwharetoa were worried that the mountains were to be surveyed and that Europeans would break traditional tapu. Horonuku, having discussed the subject with other chiefs of his tribe, put a proposition to the government – that the land be bequeathed to the nation as a national park, on the condition that the government should remove from the mountains the remains of their famous predecessors, including Mananui, and erect a suitable tomb. The government agreed and the deed was signed by

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 14th premier of New Zealand from January 1891 until his death in April 1893. He governed as the leader of New Zealand's first organised List of pol ...

as Native Minister and Horonuku, in 1887. Horonuku's sons included Tūreiti Te Heuheu Tūkino V, his successor as paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

External links

Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku) or (Pataatai)
from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.
Te Heuheu Tukino IV, Horonuku
from Dictionary of New Zealand Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Heuheu Tukino 04 19th-century New Zealand people 1821 births 1888 deaths Ngāti Tūwharetoa people Te Heuheu family