Hori Kingi Te Anaua

Portrait of Hori Kingi Te Anaua c. 1860.

Te Anaua and his brother Te Mawae were among the leaders of the Wanganui tribes in the tribal wars of the early 19th century. In 1819 or 1820 he fought against the expedition of northern, musket-armed tribes led by Tuwhare, Patuone and Nene near the mouth of the Whanganui River. Te Anaua was also involved in the unsuccessful attack by Wanganui and other southern tribes on Ngati Toa at Kapiti Island around 1824. He later fought against the Tama-te-uaua migration of Te Ati Awa to the south in the early 1830s.

Te Anaua signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Wanganui in 1840. He also signed Edward Jerningham Wakefield's deed of purchase for Wanganui, which he later described as 'being of no significance'.

The Church Missionary Society had established a mission station at Putiki in 1840 and Te Anaua became a close friend of the missionary Richard Taylor. In 1846-47, when the European settlement at Wanganui was threatened by Te Mamaku of Ngati Haua-te-rangi, Te Anaua provided men to help defend the town. In February 1848, at Governor George Grey's request, he became involved in the peace talks held with Te Mamaku.

With other Wanganui leaders he was successful in gaining increased Maori reserves when the Wanganui purchase was finalised in May 1848. In December that year he was appointed a magistrate and in the 1860s was appointed an assessor by the government. His loyalty to the government was recognised at the 1860 Kohimarama conference of Maori leaders when he was presented by Governor Thomas Gore Browne with a staff of honour from Queen Victoria.

Te Anaua was suggested for the Maori kingship in the 1850s, but declined. In the 1860s he resisted the influence of both the King movement and Pai Marire in the area. In May 1864 he led the force which defeated upper river Hauhau followers at Moutoa Island. In July 1865 he joined Grey at Weraroa, a Hauhau pa near the Waitotara River. When the Hauhau were driven from Pipiriki in August that year he assisted in arranging an end to hostilities on the Whanganui River. In early 1866 Te Anaua participated in Major-General Trevor Chute's campaign in South Taranaki.

Te Anaua died at Putiki on 18 September 1868.