Honiana_Te_Puni-kokopu
Hōniana Te Puni (died 5 December 1870) was a Te Ati Awa leader and government member who played a significant role in the Wellington region in the early to mid 19th century.[1]
Te Puni belonged to the Ngāti Te Whiti and Ngāti Tawhirikura hapū of Te Ātiawa.[2] Born in Taranaki his mother was Te Puku and his father was the chief Rerewha-i-te-rangi.[1] He acquired the name 'Te Puni-kokopu' ('puni' for pool, 'kokopu' for fresh water fish) as a young man, when to escape an invading force attacking Rewarewa pa (located near to present-day New Plymouth) he and his father's younger brother Raua-ki-tua leapt from the pa down a cliff-face into the Waiwhakaiho River and swam to safety.[1]
Te Puni was closely associated with his younger cousin Te Wharepōuri.[3] In about 1820 the two were part of the defence of Pukerangiora pa in Taranaki, and in 1822 both were part of the battle against Waikato fighters at Motunui.[1] He and Te Wharepōuri made contact with whalers and traders Dicky Barrett and Jacky Love in Ngamotu (now New Plymouth) in the 1820s.[4] In about 1828 Te Puni sailed to Sydney on board the Tohora.[1]
In 1832, realising that the invasions from Waikato iwi were not going to cease, a large number of Te Ati Awa, including Te Puni, Te Wharepōuri, Te Puni's uncle Raua-ki-tua, Ngatata-i-te-rangi and his son Wi Tako Ngātata, and the families of Love and Barrett, migrated overland south to Waikanae and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour).[1] The migration is known as Te Heke Tama-te-uaua.[1][5] Over the next few years Te Puni moved around the wider Wellington region, settling for times in Waikanae, near Porirua, in Featherston, and on Matiu / Somes Island. By 1836 Te Wharepōuri was settled in Ngauranga and Te Puni was invited from Matiu / Somes Island to settle in Pito-one (present-day Petone).[1]
On 27 September 1839, Te Puni signed a deed of settlement with the New Zealand Company that saw the purchase of much of the Wellington region by British settlers.[6] Te Puni was also a signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi, signing Sheet 8, The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet, in Wellington on 29 April 1840.[7]
Te Puni died on 5 December 1870 and was buried in the family ūrūpa (cemetery) two days later with a funeral that came close in scale to a state funeral.[1] The ship Rangatira sailed from Wellington to Petone carrying soldiers and the garrison band; banks, government offices and many shops were closed.[8] The Bishop of Wellington, Octavius Hadfield, read the funeral service in Māori and three volleys were fired over Te Puni's grave by members of the Hutt Volunteers.[2]