Te Pūoho-o-te-rangi (died 1836 or 1837), also known as Te Pūoho-ki-te-rangi, was a notable New Zealand tribal leader. 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 ...

, he identified with the

Ngāti Tama Ngāti Tama is a Māori people, Māori iwi, tribe of New Zealand. Their origins, according to oral tradition, date back to Tama Ariki, the chief navigator on the Tokomaru (canoe), Tokomaru waka (canoe), waka. Their historic region is in north Tar ...

and

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...

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. ...

. Te Pūoho was born in Poutama,

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 ...

, New Zealand, possibly in the late eighteenth century. Late in his life, he moved to the South Island and settled at Parapara. In 1836, Te Pūoho led a 100-person war party (), armed with

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s, down the West Coast and over the Haast Pass / Tioripatea: they fell on the

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

encampment between

Lake Wānaka Lake Wānaka is New Zealand's List of lakes in New Zealand#Largest lakes, fourth-largest lake and the seat of the town of Wānaka in the Otago region. The lake is 278 meters above sea level, covers , and is more than deep. "Wānaka" is the So ...

and Lake Hāwea, capturing ten people and killing and eating two children. Some of the Ngāi Tahu fled down the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river in the South Island of New Zealand. It drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast. It starts at the confluence of the Ōhau Ri ...

to the coast; Te Pūoho took his captives over the Crown Range to

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu () is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland, New Zealand, Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori l ...

and thence to Southland where he was killed and his war party destroyed by the southern Ngāi Tahu leader Tūhawaiki. Pātuki is said to have fired the shot that killed Te Pūoho.

References

Ngāti Tama people Ngāti Toa people Year of birth missing 1836 deaths New Zealand Māori soldiers People from Taranaki {{Māori-bio-stub