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Henare Wiremu Taratoa
THE TAMA OF IHOWĀ IS BORN Ruka 2
Mere and Hohepa stayed in a stable. During the pō, a wonderful thing happened! Mere gave birth to Ihu – the tama of Ihowā. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.
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1 – Kōwhai 3 – Parauri 5 – Kikorangi 2 – Pango 4 – Whero 6 – Poroporo
HENARE WIREMU TARATOA
Henare was born about 1830 on Matakana Island near Tauranga.
When he grew older he met missionary Henry Williams, who lived in the Bay of Islands. Henare learned about Ihu Karaiti from the Paipera Tapu and decided to follow Him. When he was baptised to show that he had put his whakapono in Ihu, Henare took Henry Williams name and became known as Henare Wiremu Taratoa.
Sometime later, Henare trained as a kaiako at St John’s College in Tāmaki Makaurau, which had been built by Bishop Selwyn. The College also trained missionaries, had a kura and a whāma.
Later Henare became a kaiako at a kura in Otaki. He became very unhappy with the kino things that were happening around the motu –Māori land was being taken unfairly and there was fighting in different areas between the local iwi and the Government soldiers.
In 1861 Henare returned to Tauranga and opened a Christian kura. As the fighting got closer, Henare felt he should defend his people because he was a rangatira of Ngai Te Rangi iwi.
Reverend Browne had a mission station at Pukehinahina. Chief Rāwiri Puhirake, Henare and their toa built a pa right next to it as they didn’t think it was right to fight on mission land. They also built a pahiko and a kēti on the boundary, and this is why it is called Gate Pa.
The British soldiers were coming to the Bay of Plenty after fighting in the Waikato. The Commander knew that Māori toa were coming from the south to help their hoa, and that a lot of kai Was being brought up from the East Coast to feed them. The Commander sent Colonel Henry Greer and his men to Tauranga, and then he ordered some kaipuke to block the harbour so that the waka bringing the toa and kai could not get through.
