In 1840 more than 500 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. Ngā Tohu, when complete, will contain a biographical sketch of each signatory.
| Signature | Sheet | Signed as | Probable name | Tribe | Hapū | Signing Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Sheet 8 — The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet | Pakewa | Pākewa | Te Āti Awa | Puketapu? | Port Nicholson, 29 April 1840 |
Pākewa, also known as Paekawa, signed Te Tiriti at Port Nicholson on 29 April 1840. She was a wahine rangatira of Te Āti Awa.
Her parents may have been Ngākoro and Te Hurupoki (of Ngāti Ruanui). She married Rāwiri Nukaiahu and they migrated from Taranaki to Waikanae around the 1830s. Descendants say that Pākewa and Rāwiri had eight children, including two daughters named Mere and Pairoke. Their daughter Pairoke married a settler, William Jenkins.
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