Abstract:
This thesis details and analyses the movements, political and military strategies and the influences that Te Kooti Te Tuuruki and his Ringatuu followers had in the Ngaati Tuuwharetoa region between June 1869 and January 1870.
Although Te Kooti was defeated at Ngatapa and many of his followers were massacred, he escaped and gradually re-built his force to the point where he was able to attend to "unfinished business" in the Bay of Plenty and Mohaka, as well as take up an invitation to visit the whenua of Taupo Nui a Tia.
Te Kooti had two objectives while in the Taupo area. The first was to gain the support of the Kingitanga and other tribes, and the second was to achieve a major military victory. He failed in both.
The causes of his failures were varied. Some were beyond his control, some were through his failing to predict certain consequences, another was though his lack of sensitivity and inadequacy as a political strategist in his relations with the leader of the Kingitanga.
The failures also had unfortunate consequences for an apparent ally, the paramount chief Te Heuheu Horonuku and the Ngaati Tuuwharetoa tribe. At the time Te Kooti was in the Tuuwharetoa area the mana of Te Heuheu had declined amongst Maori and the result was a decision by Te Horonuku to relinquish the Tongariro National Park lands of Ngaati Tuuwharetoa to the government. It is contended here that this decision was either based on bad Paakeha advice despite the over-riding of the protestations of other chiefs, or it may equally have been a desire by Te Horonuku to repay the government of McLean for its policy of leniency towards him.
No comprehensive record of this part of the life of Te Kooti exists and most of the records that are available are written from a colonial perspective, suggesting that a detailed study of Te Kooti during this time would be both challenging and worthwhile. This thesis then documents his campaigns and the influence he had in the Tuuwharetoa region. Secondly, it provides a more balanced perspective of Te Kooti and the other main Ngaati Tuuwharetoa players, Te Heuheu Horonuku and Te Rangitaahau.
Written historical data as recorded by Paakeha writers provided the base data for this thesis. Part of the methodology employed was to analyse these texts and identify racial bias where it occurred, strip it away and record the bare historical facts. In regard to this, the few written testimonies by Maaori, in Maaori, were extremely useful in comparing and questioning the Paakeha version of particular events. Maaori oral testimonies have also been sought out, and where it has been possible to conducted interviews successfully, these have been invaluable in ascertaining and confirming that Te Kooti was not the cold, blood-thirsty war-mongerer portrayed by Paakeha and government s ympat hisers.
