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
2Sheet 6 — The Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) SheetTakahiTe TakahiaoTe WhakatōheaTe ŪpokoreheŌpōtiki 27-28 May 1840

Takahi, also known as Te Takahiao, signed the Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi at Ōpōtiki on 27 or 28 May 1840.

In 1830, Te Whakatōhea were defeated by Ngāti Maru in a battle at Te Papa pā (fortified village). The pā was captured and many of Te Whakatōhea were taken prisoner. During the battle, Takahi was escaping with 10 others when his name was called by Te Rohu. [1] Takahi gave himself up, as was the custom, and was allowed to remain free and keep his position in the victor’s hapū (subtribe). By 1840 most Te Whakatōhea of the prisoners had returned to Ōpōtiki due to increasing Christian influence on Ngāti Maru.

Takahi died some time before 1865.


[1] ‘The story of Te Waharoa No. 2 —Part I’Daily Southern Cross, 2 July 1866, p. 4


If you have more information about this treaty signatory please add a community contribution below or contact us at [email protected].

Community contributions

No comments have been posted about Te Takahiao

What do you know?

Can you tell us more about the information on this page? Perhaps you have a related experience you would like to share?

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Comments will be reviewed prior to posting. Not all comments posted. Tell me more...