Eruera Maihi Patuone ( – 19 September 1872) was a Māori rangatira (chief), the son of the Ngāti Hao chief Tapua and his wife Te Kawehau. His exact birth year is not known, but it is estimated that he was at least 108 years old when he died.
His younger brother was Tāmati Wāka Nene. With his father and brother, he was one of the first Māori people to have contact with Europeans when James Cook's ship visited in 1769.The First Pakehas to Visit The Bay of Islands, Te Ao Hou, No 51, June 1965
Name He was named Patuone at birth and acquired his longer name when he was baptised by Archdeacon Henry Williams at Paihia on Sunday, 26 January 1840, a few days prior to the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February. Eruera Maihi (Edward Marsh) was the name of Williams' spiritual mentor in England, and this name was also given to Williams' oldest son. Patuone's third wife was Takarangi, sister of Te Kupenga, a chief of Ngāti Paoa. Takarangi was baptised at the same time, adopting the name Riria (Lydia). Prior to this, in the Māori fashion, the name was simply Patuone, commemorating the deaths of two older brothers, Te Anga and Te Ruanui, killed fighting alongside their father Tapua during wars against the Whangaroa tribe Ngāti Pou, who had earlier been forced out of the Hokianga area by expanding hapu (sub-tribal) groupings of what later came to be called Ngāpuhi.
Family
Both of Patuone's older brothers Te Anga and Te Ruanui had been killed in fighting on a beach (one), suffering blows from clubs (patu) in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Thus Patuone's name commemorates an important family event, this being a typical Māori naming convention.
Patuone was born the third son and fourth child, there being, in addition to Te Anga and Te Ruanui, an older sister Tari, later to marry the Bay of Islands chief Te Wharerahi, older brother of Rewa and Moka 'Kainga-mataa' and their sister Te Karehu. Patuone's younger brother Nene (later to be Tāmati Wāka (Thomas Walker) Nene after his baptism which took place prior to Patuone's) was also a highly distinguished chief and collaborated with his tuakana (older brother) on many military and commercial campaigns. Both were fierce promoters of European ways. In their eyes, once Māori had begun to accept European goods in trade and adopt European ways as land sales took place, there was no turning back. (Europeans) were there to stay.
The Tapua/Te Kawehau family was directly descended through multiple senior chiefly lines from the eponymous ancestor of Ngāpuhi, Rahiri, and his first-born son Uenuku (whose mother was Ahuaiti) and second-born son, Kaharau (whose mother was Whakaruru). In addition to being the ariki of Ngāti Hao, Tapua was also the tohunga (high priest). These were the roles and status (mana) Patuone was to inherit from Tapua. Patuone's grandmother Ripia was also a tohunga in her own right. Patuone was to invoke her name in a famous pepeha (retort) to his kinsman Hōne Heke at Ōhaeawai: "Ko te whaiti a Ripia!" ("We are the small band of Ripia!") meaning that we are small in number but valiant in battle. This was in response to Heke's observation that Patuone and Nene, having arrived as a taua to confront their kin who had taken an anti-British stand, with a force of some one hundred, would do better to return home, whereas the forces Heke and Kawiti numbered some eight hundred. Thus Patuone was both inheritor of famous warrior blood and of priestly authority, two attributes which explain in part his capacities and longevity through endless tribal wars and changes such as the arrival of the .
As one of the senior chiefs of the Ngāpuhi confederation, Patuone was involved, together with his younger brother Nene, in many military campaigns throughout the North Island. Through descent from Rahiri also, Patuone was closely related to all the major chiefs of Ngāpuhi, including Hongi Hika, Moetara, Hōne Heke, Te Ruki Kawiti, Waikato, Pōmare, Tītore, Muriwai, Pangari, Taonui, Te Whareumu and Taiwhanga.
Patuone was thus born into the fighting aristocracy of the Ngāpuhi and from an early age was trained in both the arts of war and in the priesthood. He was famed for his skills and knowledge in both areas, becoming a trusted confidant of many in both the Māori and worlds. In fulfilment of the predictions of seers who foretold the coming of the , Patuone witnessed their arrival. His father Tapua was received on board the Endeavour by Captain James Cook on his visit to the Bay of Islands in 1770. Potential enemies knew of the warrior reputation of the Tapua family.
relationships Both Patuone and Nene were highly influential in affairs of the developing nation of New Zealand and Patuone in particular, despite his military prowess, together with his brother-in-law Te Wharerahi, became known as Peacemaker. also referred to him as the Father of the since his protection afforded them the capacity to establish a foothold in what was a wild and challenging land, full of dangers to person and property.
At the negotiations at Waitangi on 5 February 1840, Ngāpuhi chief Te Wharerahi spoke for peace and the acceptance of the European, and was duly supported by Patuone and his brother Nene. Patuone's influence was particularly strong at this gathering of northern chiefs for the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi; persuading a number of chiefs to sign this document on 6 February 1840. Thus, while Patuone would never shy from battle as a last resort, his efforts to avoid conflicts and to settle disputes through negotiation would always precede military conflicts.
During the Flagstaff War (1845–46) he supported his brother Tāmati Wāka Nene in opposing Hōne Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti. Patuone participated in the Battle of Ruapekapeka together with Tāmati Wāka Nene, Nopera Pana-kareao, Eruera Maihi Tawhai, Repa and about 450 warriors.
Commercial interests On the commercial front, Patuone, as a major chief of the Hokianga, controlled many resources, including extensive kauri (Agathis australis) forests. As well as being prized by the Royal Navy for spars, kauri became a valuable export to New South Wales. Patuone was instrumental in encouraging merchants in Sydney to establish a timber mill and shipbuilding yard at Horeke in about 1826.
Governors Patuone knew all of the governors of New Zealand up to his death and was consulted by them. He developed a particular friendship with Sir George Grey who was to serve two terms as governor. While Grey's judgment and increasing eccentricity created many problems and Māori became increasingly disaffected and alienated in the face of law, the friendship remained. Patuone was also an important informant for Grey on the many works he produced on things Māori. Friendship also survived Grey's decision to invade the Waikato, totally against the advice of both Patuone and Tauwhitu, another influential chief whose base was the Matakana, near Kawau Island where Grey maintained a residence, Mansion House, having set the island up as a botanic and animal showcase.
Tribal wars Famously, in hand-to-hand combat in 1806 at the battle of Waituna, Patuone killed the Te Roroa/Ngati Whatua chief Tatakahuanui.
Thereafter, in no small way, both Patuone and Nene were to contribute to the fame of Ngāpuhi as a fighting force, even in the face of major defeats such as the battle of Moremonui in 1807 where the Ngāpuhi taua (war party) were surprised at breakfast by a combined Ngāti Whatua/Te Roroa force. While Patuone and Nene were not present at this fight, it was a major rout and many of the major chiefs of Ngāpuhi present were killed, including Heke's uncle Pokaia and Te Houawe, older brother of Hongi Hika. Hongi's sister Waitapu was also killed and her body desecrated, all it is said as part of helping Hongi to escape to carry on in name and deed the family honour now handed to him with the death of his tuakana. Hongi named one of his muskets Te Teke Tanumia to commemorate his sister's terrible death: she was slit open from the genital region and filled with sand.
Given the close kinship connections between Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whatua and Te Roroa, this battle was typically a product of many take (issues) overtaking kinship linkages. It was also an endemic feature of groupings in the north: war was not confined to those who were not related. Such was the slaughter of Ngāpuhi at Moremonui that the event became known as Te-Kai-a-Te-Karoro (The Seagull's Feast). It was, however, the kinship links which led to a line being drawn in the sand by Te Teke under instructions from the chief Taoho, beyond which no further killing was to take place. Thus, some key Ngāpuhi made their escape as a result of kinship and through an act of chivalry so typically Māori. It would not be until 1825 and the battle of Te-Ika-a-Ranganui near Kaiwaka, that Ngāpuhi extracted a terrible utu (reprisal; payback) for their military disaster at Moremonui. Part of the Ngāpuhi problem was their confidence in that they possessed more muskets but also an unfortunate choice of encampment, vulnerable to surprise attack from concealed positions.
The period from 1815 to 1840 saw many wars involving Ngāpuhi with southern tribal groupings, especially Ngāti Whatua, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Maru and Waikato generally. Following a particularly acrimonious period of major battles with Ngāti Paoa in particular, as part of a peace deal between Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Paoa, Patuone married Takarangi, sister of the Ngāti Paoa chief Te Kupenga. This was about 1828. Thereafter, Patuone moved his base to the Hauraki area of South Auckland, maintaining pā (defensive, fortified villages) at Whakatiwai on the Hauraki Gulf south of present-day Auckland and at Putiki on Waiheke Island. Later, following the gift of at Takapuna, Patuone set up his estate there. Nene was left to supervise and safeguard interests in the Hokianga.
Later years
Patuone's later years in Auckland did not preclude his being called upon to perform specific duties including being part of the welcome to the Prince and Princess of Wales. As well as continuing business in timber, potatoes and flax (Phormium tenax). Patuone also bred horses. Grey had given him a horse called New Zealander which enjoyed some success at the Auckland races. Patuone was also the source of the first horse ever owned by Te Arawa, a piebald horse called Taika. In the Māori value system, horses carried great value, being regarded as superior property.
Patuone and Nene were both to outlive all the old chiefs of Ngāpuhi, the deaths of whom began in 1828 with Hongi, Te Whareumu and Muriwai. Patuone directed the rituals leading up to and following the death of Hongi, his relative and fellow warrior. It was a time of great upheaval and Hongi's death, some two years after sustaining a bullet wound in battle with Ngāti Pou, led to great fears about revenge attacks from the south. Through Hongi, much suffering had been visited upon the southern tribes. But, New Zealand was developing into a new nation, forged as were many in conflict and difference. 1828 was also a year of family deaths for Patuone: his first wife, Te Wheke, his first-born son Toa, another son Mata and a daughter. Most likely, these deaths were due to some introduced infectious agent such as Tuberculosis. Like many indigenous peoples, Māori had no resistance to introduced diseases and suffered greatly as a result of these. Even things like influenza proved deadly, quite apart from more serious infectious agents and venereal diseases brought in by sailors and settlers.