Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga

Hirini Taiwhanga, of Nga Puhi, was born in the Bay of Islands in 1832 or 1833. He was educated at the Waimate mission school and St. John's College, Auckland. He later worked as a carpenter, surveyor and schoolmaster.

From the mid-1870s he began to make his mark at tribal gatherings, vigorously speaking out against government policy and demanding that Treaty of Waitangi grievances be heard. He began to attract a following among Maori.

In 1882 he took a petition to Queen Victoria. He called for change in the laws that breached the Treaty, and for a Maori Parliament which might restrain the settler government. Taiwhanga and his companions were not allowed to wait on the Queen. Instead they presented their petition to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Earl of Kimberley. He denied any Crown responsibility for what happened in the self-governing New Zealand colony.

Despite this setback Taiwhanga prepared a second petition in 1883. It included a plea to end the Native Land Court and replace it with committees of chiefs. It also asked that mana (authority) over foreshores and fisheries be returned to Maori. This petition was also dismissed.

Taiwhanga was elected to Parliament as representative for Northern Maori in 1887. His main effort was in keeping Maori control over their remaining land. He died suddenly in 1890.

Taiwhanga's attempts to promote Maori political unity ultimately contributed to the formation of the Maori Kotahitanga movement by other leaders in the early 1890s.

• See also: biography of Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga at DNZB website