Riperata Kahutia

Riperata Kahutia (1838/39?–1887) was born in Poverty Bay. She belonged to the Te Whanau-a-Iwi hapu (subtribe) of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki. Her father, Kahutia, was a principal leader in the Turanga (Gisborne) area. When he died in about 1860 Riperata Kahutia inherited his mana within Te Aitangi-a-Mahaki.

Riperata Kahutia later became a well-known figure in the region through her claims in the Native Land Court and the Poverty Bay Commission. The Commission was set up to return land titles to Maori such as Riperata who had remained "loyal" to the Crown during the wars of the 1860s. She succeeded in gaining title to large areas in many land blocks for herself, her whanau (extended family) and her tribe. She was one of the principal owners of the Turanganui No. 2 block, sold to the government in 1869 to provide land for the township of Gisborne.

In the early 1880s Riperata played a role in the cultural revival of her people after the destructive wars of the 1860s. She established a marae named Te Poho-o-Materoa on her Awapuni land. The ridge-pole was presented by Horonuku Te Heuheu of Ngati Tuwharetoa.

Riperata died at the age of 48 in 1887 from tuberculosis, soon after the marae was opened. One of her daughters, Heni Materoa, married James Carroll, the long-standing Liberal Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori and Minister of Maori Affairs between 1899 and 1912.

• See also: Riperata Kahutia biography on the  DNZB website