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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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'''Kereopa Te Rau''' (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of [[Pai Marire]] (Hauhau), a [[Māori people|Māori]] religion.
{{Infobox person
⚫
| name = Kereopa Te Rau
| image = Kereopa te rau (cropped).jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption =
| nickname =
| birth_date = Unknown
| birth_place =
| birth_name =
| death_date = 5 January 1872
| death_place = [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]], New Zealand
| occupation = Religious leader of [[Pai Mārire]]
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
⚫
}}


⚫
'''Kereopa Te Rau''' (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of [[Pai Mārire]] (Hauhau), a [[Māori people|Māori]] religion. He played a key role in the [[Volkner Incident]] and was subsequently hanged for his part in it.
⚫
Kereopa was baptised by the Catholic missionary Father [[Euloge Reignier]] in the 1840s and was given the Christian name of Kereopa, the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name [[Cleopas]]. He may have served as a police officer in [[Auckland]] during the 1850s. He is known to have fought for the [[Māori King Movement|King Movement]] during the [[Invasion of the Waikato]] in 1863.<ref name=DNZB>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Te Rau, Kereopa |first=Steven |last=Oliver |encyclopedia= Dictionary of New Zealand Biography |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t72/te-rau-kereopa |date=30 October 2012}}</ref> His wife and two daughters were killed in the attack by government forces on the unfortified village of [[Rangiaowhia]] near [[Te Awamutu]] in 1864, and his sister was killed in defence of the [[Hairini Line]] a few days later.


==Early life==
⚫
Shortly afterwards he met up with the prophet [[Te Ua Haumene]] and converted to the [[Pai Marire]]. In December 1864 he was sent on a mission to the tribes of the [[Gisborne District|East Coast]]. His instructions were to go in peace and avoid confrontations with the [[Pākehā]].<ref name=DNZB/> While he was at [[Opotiki]] the missionary [[Carl Sylvius Völkner|Carl Volkner]] was seized, tried, hanged and decapitated by his own congregation<ref name=DNZB_Volkner>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Völkner, Carl Sylvius |first=Evelyn |last=Stokes |encyclopedia= Dictionary of New Zealand Biography |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1v5/volkner-carl-sylvius |date=30 October 2012}}</ref> in what became known as the [[Volkner Incident]]. Immediately afterwards Kereopa preached a sermon from Volkner's pulpit during which he gouged the missionary's eyes out of his head and ate them.<ref name=DNZB/> This was traditional Maori behaviour in the context of Māori warfare.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}
⚫
Little is known of Kereopa's early life but he was of the [[Ngāti Rangiwewehi]] ''[[iwi]]'' (tribe) of the [[Te Arawa]] confederation of tribes. He was baptised by the Catholic missionary Father Euloge Reignier in the 1840s and was given the Christian name of Kereopa, the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name [[Cleopas]]. He may have served as a police officer in [[Auckland]] during the 1850s. He is known to have fought for the [[Māori King Movement|King Movement]] during the [[Invasion of the Waikato]] in 1863. His wife and two daughters are believed to have been killed in an attack mounted on 21 February 1864 by government forces on the village of [[Rangiaowhia]] near [[Te Awamutu]] in 1864. His sister was killed in defence of nearby Hairini the next day.<ref name=DNZB>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Te Rau, Kereopa |first=Steven |last=Oliver |encyclopedia= Dictionary of New Zealand Biography |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t72/te-rau-kereopa |date=30 October 2012}}</ref>


==Pai Mārire==
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Kereopa and his Pai Marire followers went on to [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]], and then to the [[Te Urewera|Urewera]] mountains to preach to the [[Tuhoe]] people. In 1865 he tried to return to the [[Waikato]] but was repulsed by a war party of [[Ngāti Manawa]] and [[Ngāti Rangitihi]] loyal Maori, who supported the government. Following the resulting battle Kereopa is said to have eaten the eyes of three of the slain enemy. For this and the eating of Volkner's eyes, he was nicknamed ''Kai Whatu'' (Eye Eater). He then retreated to the Ureweras where he found refuge and remained in hiding for the next five years.<ref name=DNZB/>
⚫
Shortly afterwards Kereopa met up with the prophet [[Te Ua Haumēne]] and converted to the [[Pai Mārire]] faith. In December 1864 he was sent on a mission to the tribes of the [[Gisborne District|East Coast]]. His instructions were to go in peace and avoid confrontations with the [[Pākehā]].<ref name=DNZB/> While he was at [[Ōpōtiki]] the missionary [[Carl Sylvius Völkner|Carl Volkner]] was seized, tried, hanged and decapitated by his own congregation<ref name=DNZB_Volkner>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Völkner, Carl Sylvius |first=Evelyn |last=Stokes |encyclopedia= Dictionary of New Zealand Biography |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1v5/volkner-carl-sylvius |date=30 October 2012}}</ref> in what became known as the [[Volkner Incident]]. Immediately afterwards Kereopa preached a sermon from Volkner's pulpit during which he gouged the missionary's eyes out of his head and ate them.<ref name=DNZB/>


⚫
Kereopa and his Pai Mārire followers went on to [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]], and then to the [[Te Urewera|Urewera]] mountains to preach to the [[Tūhoe]] people. In 1865 he tried to return to the [[Waikato]] but was repulsed by a war party of [[Ngāti Manawa]] and [[Ngāti Rangitihi]], [[kūpapa]] Maori who supported the government. Following the resulting battle Kereopa is said to have eaten the eyes of three of the slain enemy. For this and the eating of Volkner's eyes, he was nicknamed ''Kai Whatu'' (Eye Eater). He then retreated to the [[Ureweras]] where he found refuge and remained in hiding for the next five years.<ref name=DNZB/>
⚫
In the early 1870s government forces searching for [[Te Kooti]] entered the Ureweras. The Tuhoe were conquered and law and order established. Tuhoe handed over Kereopa to Major [[Ropata Wahawaha]], who led the government forces.<ref name=DNZB/>


⚫
In the early 1870s government forces searching for [[Te Kooti]] entered the Ureweras. The Tūhoe were conquered and British colonial law and order was established. Kereopa, who had a bounty of £1,000 for his capture, was hiding near Ruatahuna. Major [[Ropata Wahawaha]] led a Ngāti Porou party there and Tūhoe handed over Kereopa to him on 18 November.<ref name=DNZB/>{{sfn|Crosby|2015|p=449}}
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Kereopa was tried for Volkner's murder in Napier on 21 December 1871. He was convicted and was hanged on 5 January 1872.<ref name=DNZB/> His iwi Ngati Rangiwewehi say that the trial had a predetermined outcome and was a miscarriage of justice. Kereopa was posthumously pardoned as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11278442 |title=Pardoned at last: Chief cleared of 1865 murder|first=Andrew|last=Stone|date=21 June 2014|work=The New Zealand Herald}}</ref>

⚫
Kereopa was tried for Volkner's murder in Napier on 21 December 1871. He was convicted and, despite appeals for clemency from the missionary [[William Colenso]], who noted punishment had already been meted out for the crime, was hanged in Napier on 5 January 1872.<ref name=DNZB/> His iwi Ngati Rangiwewehi say that the trial had a predetermined outcome and was a miscarriage of justice. Kereopa was posthumously pardoned as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11278442 |title=Pardoned at last: Chief cleared of 1865 murder|first=Andrew|last=Stone|date=21 June 2014|work=The New Zealand Herald}}</ref><ref>[http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2013/0136B/latest/DLM5992414.html Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill, April 2014.]</ref>


==Footnotes==
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==References==
==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Crosby |first1=Ron |title=Kūpapa: The Bitter Legacy of Māori Alliances with the Crown |date=2015 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Auckland |isbn=978-0-14-357311-1}}
*Cowan, J. (1922) ''The New Zealand Wars''. New Zealand Government Printer.

*Lyall, A. C. (1979) ''Whakatohea of Opotiki''. AH & AW Reed.
==Further reading==
*[http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/viewchapter.asp?reportID=A949CD08-4825-48BF-B038-FAC923793297&chapter=6 Chapter 5: The Völkner and Fulloon Slayings], in The Ngati Awa Raupatu Report. Waitangi Tribunal, 1999.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071025011529/http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/viewchapter.asp?reportID=A949CD08-4825-48BF-B038-FAC923793297&chapter=6 Chapter 5: The Völkner and Fulloon Slayings], in The Ngati Awa Raupatu Report. Waitangi Tribunal, 1999.

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
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| NAME = Te Rau, Kereopa
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Maori military leader
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1872
| PLACE OF DEATH =
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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Rau, Kereopa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Rau, Kereopa}}
[[Category:New Zealand Māori religious leaders]]
[[Category:New Zealand Māori religious leaders]]
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[[Category:Military leaders of the New Zealand Wars]]
[[Category:Military leaders of the New Zealand Wars]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:New Zealand people executed by hanging]]
[[Category:Executed New Zealand people]]
[[Category:Pardon recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of New Zealand royal pardons]]
[[Category:19th-century executions by New Zealand]]
[[Category:1864 murders in New Zealand]]
[[Category:People who have received posthumous pardons]]

Latest revision as of 16:24, 11 August 2023

Kereopa Te Rau
BornUnknown
Died5 January 1872
Napier, New Zealand
OccupationReligious leader of Pai Mārire

Kereopa Te Rau (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of Pai Mārire (Hauhau), a Māori religion. He played a key role in the Volkner Incident and was subsequently hanged for his part in it.

Early life

[edit]

Little is known of Kereopa's early life but he was of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi iwi (tribe) of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. He was baptised by the Catholic missionary Father Euloge Reignier in the 1840s and was given the Christian name of Kereopa, the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name Cleopas. He may have served as a police officer in Auckland during the 1850s. He is known to have fought for the King Movement during the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863. His wife and two daughters are believed to have been killed in an attack mounted on 21 February 1864 by government forces on the village of Rangiaowhia near Te Awamutu in 1864. His sister was killed in defence of nearby Hairini the next day.[1]

Pai Mārire

[edit]

Shortly afterwards Kereopa met up with the prophet Te Ua Haumēne and converted to the Pai Mārire faith. In December 1864 he was sent on a mission to the tribes of the East Coast. His instructions were to go in peace and avoid confrontations with the Pākehā.[1] While he was at Ōpōtiki the missionary Carl Volkner was seized, tried, hanged and decapitated by his own congregation[2] in what became known as the Volkner Incident. Immediately afterwards Kereopa preached a sermon from Volkner's pulpit during which he gouged the missionary's eyes out of his head and ate them.[1]

Kereopa and his Pai Mārire followers went on to Gisborne, and then to the Urewera mountains to preach to the Tūhoe people. In 1865 he tried to return to the Waikato but was repulsed by a war party of Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Rangitihi, kūpapa Maori who supported the government. Following the resulting battle Kereopa is said to have eaten the eyes of three of the slain enemy. For this and the eating of Volkner's eyes, he was nicknamed Kai Whatu (Eye Eater). He then retreated to the Ureweras where he found refuge and remained in hiding for the next five years.[1]

In the early 1870s government forces searching for Te Kooti entered the Ureweras. The Tūhoe were conquered and British colonial law and order was established. Kereopa, who had a bounty of £1,000 for his capture, was hiding near Ruatahuna. Major Ropata Wahawaha led a Ngāti Porou party there and Tūhoe handed over Kereopa to him on 18 November.[1][3]

Kereopa was tried for Volkner's murder in Napier on 21 December 1871. He was convicted and, despite appeals for clemency from the missionary William Colenso, who noted punishment had already been meted out for the crime, was hanged in Napier on 5 January 1872.[1] His iwi Ngati Rangiwewehi say that the trial had a predetermined outcome and was a miscarriage of justice. Kereopa was posthumously pardoned as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement in 2014.[4][5]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Oliver, Steven (30 October 2012). "Te Rau, Kereopa". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
  2. ^ Stokes, Evelyn (30 October 2012). "Völkner, Carl Sylvius". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
  3. ^ Crosby 2015, p. 449.
  4. ^ Stone, Andrew (21 June 2014). "Pardoned at last: Chief cleared of 1865 murder". The New Zealand Herald.
  5. ^ Ngāti Rangiwewehi Claims Settlement Bill, April 2014.

References

[edit]
  • Crosby, Ron (2015). Kūpapa: The Bitter Legacy of Māori Alliances with the Crown. Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-357311-1.

Further reading

[edit]
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