Hori Tūnui signed the Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi at Whakatāne on 16 June 1840. He was a Ngāti Pūkeko rangatira (chief).
Tūnui was killed in March 1869 when Te Kooti attacked Rauporoa pā near Whakatāne. His taua (war party) approached the pā carrying white flags and a cross. Some in the pā shouted ‘haere mai’, while others called ‘they are Hauhaus, fire!’ [1] Ngāti Pūkeko began firing on the attackers, who returned fire. About eight Ngāti Pūkeko were killed, including Tūnui and one woman. Te Kooti lost a similar number.
[1] ‘Native account of the late fight at Whakatane’, New Zealand Herald, 18 March 1869, p. 6