Portrait of Te Pehi Kupe by John Sylvester

Te Pēhi Kupe (–1828) was a Māori

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and tha ...

and war leader of

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its '' rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston ...

and the uncle of

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the origin ...

. He took a leading part in what became known as the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms ra ...

. He led the force that captured

Kapiti Island Kapiti Island () is an island about off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of . Its name has been used s ...

for Ngāti Toa, then in 1824 managed to brazenly force passage on a ship to England where he was presented to

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, learned to ride, recorded his moko and had his portrait painted. On his return journey he sold the various presents he had received in Sydney to purchase arms and ammunition, and was soon part of fellow Ngāti Toa chief

's 1828 raids on the South Island. After sacking the

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

at Kaikoura and Omihi they went further south to the major Ngāi Tahu pā at

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is c ...

, where they wished to trade. Learning that Te Rauparaha intended to attack them in the morning,"Ngāi Tahu: Wars with Ngāti Toa"
Te Ara and being aware of the attacks on their people at Kaikoura, the Kaiapoi people attacked the Ngati Toa. Te Pēhi was one of three Ngāti Toa chiefs killed as they slept overnight there, and this incident led to the revenge raids by Te Rauparaha in 1830 with the capture of Tama-i-hara-nui from Takapūneke near present-day Akaroa and the three-month successful siege of KaiapoiKaiapoi
Christchurch City Libraries and sacking of Ōnawe the next year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Pehi 1795 births 1828 deaths Musket Wars Ngāti Toa people

See also

References