Paora Tuhaere

Paora Tuhaere, of the Auckland and Kaipara iwi (tribe) Ngati Whatua, is thought to have been born in about 1825. He became a Christian early in his life, and was known as a peacemaker rather than a warrior. In 1841 he was involved in bringing Governor Hobson and the capital from the Bay of Islands to the shores of the Waitemata Harbour, and in selling land for the growing town of Auckland. Although Ngati Whatua did not support the Maori King Movement, they became more committed to holding what remained of their Auckland land by the 1850s.

In 1860 Governor Browne, anxious to isolate Taranaki Maori and the King Movement, convened a large hui (gathering) of "loyal" Maori at Kohimarama, near Auckland. The Governor emphasised the benefits of the Treaty of Waitangi for those Maori who were prepared to honour it. Most Maori present resolved to do nothing to oppose the Queen's authority, although they were concerned about Crown policy in Taranaki. Browne promised to hold the Kohimarama Conference every year as a forum where Maori could take an active role in the administration of the colony. Tūhaere played an important role at the conference, and described it as a ratification of the Treaty by those who had not signed or understood it in 1840. Some historians have referred to this reaffirmation of the Treaty as the "covenant" of Kohimarama.

Tuhaere became a leading senior chief of Ngati Whatua when his uncle, Apihai Te Kawau, died in 1868. He was appointed to a number of government positions, and started up a Pacific Islands trading venture by buying a schooner, the Victoria.

He later became deeply concerned at the government's failure to meaningfully include Maori in the administration of the colony, and the damaging effects of land loss and the Native Land Court. He saw the increasing political and economic marginalisation of Maori as a gross breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Kohimarama "covenant". Tuhaere responded to the government’s failure to reconvene the Kohimarama Conference by setting up a Maori Parliament at Orakei, near Auckland, in the late 1870s.

Colonial politicians generally ignored the Parliament's resolutions. Tuhaere frequently urged that tribal councils (rūnanga), rather than the Native Land Court, should manage and control the process of land title and land alienation.

He later became a leading figure in the Kotahitanga movement, whose aim was to abolish Maori land laws, implement the Treaty of Waitangi, and exercise a degree of Maori self-government. He died at Orakei in 1892.

See also: biography of Paora Tuhaere at DNZB website