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
26Sheet 8 — The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) SheetPatuhikiHōne Wētere Tuhata Te PatuhikiTe Āti Awa, Ngāti ToaNgāti Kaitangata, Ngāti TūahoPort Nicholson 29 April 1840

Te Patuhiki, also known as Hōne Wētere Tuhata, signed Te Tiriti at Port Nicholson on 29 April 1840.

In 1851, he wrote three letters to Governor Grey, inviting Pākehā to live at Waikanae. One concludes with a whakataukī (proverb): ‘I konei anō au e whakangaua ana e tini kai kore ki te rau kōkako’ (Here am I, driven by lack of food, chewing on pūhā). He has turned this whakataukī around to make a point: it usually refers to lack of food when away from home, in comparison with the bounty of home; but here he is saying that he has no food, even though he is at home.

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