Wahanui

Wahanui Huatare (died 5 December 1897) was a leader in the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He was also known as Reihana Te Huatare, Te Reihana Whakahoehoe and Te Wahanui. His father was Te Ngohi-te-arau, also known as Te Huatare, of Ngāti Maniapoto. His mother was Tarati, who belonged to Ngāti Waiora of Mokau and came from the Piopio area. Wahanui was born probably in the late 1820s.

In the late 1850s Wahanui participated in debates around the Māori King Movement. He became opposed to Pākehā institutions and government and fought at Pukekohe, Orakau and Hairini when the colonial government and British forces invaded the Waikato in 1863–64. After war ended he became an important leader of Ngāti Maniapoto and a principal adviser to the Māori King, Tāwhiao. He was opposed to Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato selling land, but he and fellow Ngāti Maniapoto leaders Rewi Maniapoto and Taonui eventually realised the inevitability of their territory, the King Country, being opened to Pākehā. Wahanui, Rewi and Taonui signed a petition which was presented to Parliament in 1883; they criticised the government for legislation which ran contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi. He was later offered a seat in the Legislative Council, but did not take it up.^[1]

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