Te Kawau Ngati Whatua 1840

edmondsallan - Hello - Shortly after signing the treaty, Te Kawau made available land for a new settlement on the Waitemata Harbour. This decision was reached after a major meeting at Kohimarama, called by Te Kawau as leader of Ngati Whatua. Discussions were inconclusive until Te Kawau's tohunga, Titai, went into a trance and uttered the following prophecy:

What is this wind that softly blows
'Tis the warm wind from the north
That blew the nautilus shell ashore
I will go and fetch the carved post
And establish it in the Waitemata
Our desire will then be fulfilled!

This prophecy was taken as an indication that if the centre of government could be established on the Waitemata Harbour the survival of Ngati Whatua would be ensured. Te Rewiti, Te Kawau's nephew, was sent to the Bay of Islands to invite the new lieutenant governor, William Hobson, and negotiations led to the sale of 3,000 acres of land for the site of Auckland. By the deed, signed on 20 October 1840, Te Kawau and three other leaders received £50 and a quantity of blankets, clothing and goods. As patron of the colony's new capital Te Kawau undoubtedly enhanced his mana. As the settlement of Auckland expanded he was drawn into its affairs, becoming a close friend of William Martin, the colony's first chief justice.
In 1844 he forced the government to make concessions to Maori in penal matters. When one of his tribe, Te Mania, was rescued from the court where he had been sentenced to imprisonment for petty theft, Te Kawau showed that the government's military force was inadequate to coerce him. A compromise was reached whereby any Maori convicted of theft would pay fourfold compensation for stolen goods as an alternative to imprisonment. The Native Exemption Ordinance was in keeping with Maori values but it also reflected the degree to which Maori leaders were politically dominant. In Auckland Te Kawau maintained the peace on terms acceptable to his tribe. In the 1840s Te Kawau was also becoming more involved with the Anglican missionaries. His first contact was with Samuel Marsden, New South Wales chaplain, whom he had met on Marsden's 1820 visit; he had offered him spars and accompanied him for several days on a tour of Manukau Harbour and the land to the north, reaching a village of Te Taou, Ruarangi Haereere, south of Kaipara. Marsden had been much impressed by Te Kawau's imposing bearing and tall frame, and by his concern for his kin: Te Kawau appealed to Marsden to pray to the Christian god for the recovery of his brother, badly wounded by a spear. Before Te Kawau's conversion to Christianity could be completed, however, Maori custom had to be reconciled with missionary values. He was married to Kirepiro of Te Taou and had several other wives; his reluctance to give up any of them probably delayed his adoption of Christianity. He was finally baptised by Bishop G. A. Selwyn at the chapel near Orakei pa. The ceremony was preceded by a gathering of his people, who decided that he should take the baptismal name of Apihai, after the biblical Abishai, who was a great warrior. In 1852 Te Kawau was made assessor for settling disputes between Maori in the Auckland district; the government subsequently awarded him a pension of £50 a year. By then his initial willingness to sell land had given way to caution. From at least the early 1850s he spoke out publicly against land sales, and in 1853 asked Governor George Grey to help ensure Ngati Whatua ownership of Orakei, but further land was lost from the Orakei block. The song that Te Kawau composed to farewell Grey may be taken as referring to his fear of losing the Orakei land.

The clouds in yonder horizon
Across the sea, are playing with
the winds, whilst I am here
Yearning and weeping for my son -
Ah! he's more than a son to me;
he's my heart's blood.

In 1868 Te Kawau obtained from the Native Land Court a certificate of title to 700 acres at Orakei, the last Ngati Whatua land in the area.
Te Kawau died at Ongarahu, Kaipara, in mid November 1869. He was survived by his son, Te Hira Te Kawau; and by his daughter, Hera Whakamana, from whom are descended many Ngati Whatua people. Te Kawau is buried at Kaipara.
Till we meet again _ Regards - edmondsallan