East Coast Wars

The exact date in which Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki was born is unknown to people today as well as his age when he died. His birth date is thought to be around 1832. He was born into the Rongowhakaata tribe located in the Gisborne region. Te Kooti was said to be a very adventurous and troublesome boy when he was young. He fled home to hide in the house of an uncle after his father tried to kill him for his troublesome nature. he learnt about religion and the Bible when he was sent away to school in 1846 and this seemed to have a good impact on Te Kooti. For the years following school he made a living by helping on different trade ships that traveled around the coasts of the North Island.

In 1865 while fighting for Government forces against the Pai Marire he was arrested on the accusation that he was working as a spy for the Hauhau when he tried to contact his brother on the other side. he was exiled to the Chatham Islands without a trial. While in prison he experienced visions during a ‘reawakening’ that he seemed to have and became a religious leader. Other inmates saw him as special and called him Tawhaki (meaning ‘the twice born) when he survived having tuberculosis. Te Kooti started to gather followers amongst the prisoners when he began preaching his new faith, named Ringatu. While on the Chatham’s, Te Kooti got married to Maata Te Owai on 27 July 1867 (It is from the marriage documents that he is believed to be born in 1832). He escaped from the Chatham Islands on July 4 1868 by capturing a resupply boat and led 168 other prisoners to the East Coast where he planned to further expand his new-found faith. Te Kooti was rejected refuge by the Maori King Movement and Tuhoe tribes as well as being rebuffed by the Colonial Government when sought dialogue with them. Out of rage, Te Kooti then sent a letter to the Government saying that if it was a war that they wanted then he would give it to them.

In November 1868, Te Kooti and his followers began raiding towns around the Gisborne area which resulted in the deaths of both Maori and Pakeha people alike, as well as women and children. From this point on Te Kooti was constantly being chased by Colonial forces which resulted in him hiding in the Urewera’s. Between 1869 and 1872 Te Kooti and his followers raided towns all throughout the central North Island while still being hunted by both colonial and Maori enemies. Eventually, Te Kooti had escaped from the colonial forces once again and had fled out of their reach into the King Country where he lived for about a decade. He turned his focus to expanding and developing his religion under the protection of the Maori King. The Ringatu Religion had gained many followers by this time and is still present in New Zealand society today.

Te Kooti was pardoned by the Government in 1883. He set his sites on returning to his old home on the East Coast, however not everyone had forgotten his past violence and aggression towards the area. He was Put in jail by the local magistrate later in 1883. He was then released on the conditions that he never try to return to his old home again. He was initially successful in appealing this decision but in 1890  the Government grew concerned about the number of people in which he always had travelling with him and again banned him from visiting the Gisborne area ever again. Te Kooti died in 1893.