Nga Tohu

In 1840 more than 500 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. Ngā Tohu, when complete, will contain a biographical sketch of each signatory.

Signing

SignatureSheetSigned asProbable nameTribeHapūSigning Occasion
3Sheet 2 — The Manukau-Kāwhia SheetTe RewetiRēweti TamahikiNgāti WhātuaNgā Oho, Te TaoūManukau 20 March 1840

Rēweti Tamahiki (also known as Wiremu Rēweti I) signed the Manukau-Kāwhia Treaty of Waitangi sheet on 20 March 1840, as did his uncle Āpihai Te Kawau. He was a rangatira (chief) of the Ngā Oho Te Taoū hapū (subtribes) of Ngāti Whātua at Kaipara.

Rēweti was married to Kereihi, who outlived him, and had 13 children. His brother, Pāora (Paul) Tūhaere, became the leader of Ngāti Whātua when Te Kawau died in 1868.

Rēweti signed many land sales in the Tāmaki (Auckland) region, including for the Pukeatua block in Manukau in 1848, Te Kauri, Pītoitoi Creek in Kaipara district in 1853, the Ōrākei block in Waitematā in 1854, and the Waikiekie (no. 2) block in Kaipara in 1856. In 1854 his wife Kereihi sold Parekakau in Wainui for £100. He was at the ceremony of cutting the first sod for the Kaipara railway on 31 August 1871.

Soon afterwards, in October 1871, Rēweti died at Ōrākei. More than 400 people attended his tangi (funeral) at Kopironui, north of Auckland. The Daily Southern Cross obituary stated that ‘in all respects he was a very good man – sober, honest, and well-disposed towards Europeans.’ [1]

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Jamie M

Posted: 30 Oct 2017

Thanks Ian - in this case Kaipara refers to the district rather than the harbour - see: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-Tur01Nort-t1-g1-g1-g1-g5-t4-g1-t1.html

Ian Lawlor

Posted: 28 Oct 2017

Sp. (Place. & Note.) Pitoitoi (at the head of the Waitematā Harbour near Riverhead, also Brigham’s Creek or Mill). 1940 – Mathew, Felton. The Founding of New Zealand: The Journals of Felton Mathews, First Surveyor-General of New Zealand, and his Wife, 1840-1847. – Chapter VII. Second Visit To The Waitemata [Part 2], p.157-176. A. H. and A. W. Reed 1940. URL: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi11Anci-t1-body-d11.html (accessed 11 Oct 2017) and sketch map p.158 at URL: http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=2556&page=0&action=null# (accessed 19 Sep 2017).