Tama-i-hara-nui

Ngai Tahu leader
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroNgai Tahu leader
PlacesNew Zealand
isTribal chief
Work fieldMilitary
Gender
Male
Death1831
The details

Biography

Tama-i-hara-nui (17?? – c. 1830/1831), also known as Te Maiharanui and Tamaiharanui, was a New Zealand Māori chief of Ngāi Tahu. He was described as "strong and ruthless" and was a central figure in the 1820s "kai huanga" feud, meaning "eat relatives". Tama-i-hara-nui angered Ngāti Toa by letting a group of their chiefs into Kaiapoi pā and then killing them. Te Rauparaha, one of the Ngāti Toa chiefs who stayed outside of the pā, returned to Banks Peninsula in November 1830 and captured Tama-i-hara-nui. He was taken to Ōtaki, where he was tortured by the wives of the chiefs who had been killed at Kaiapoi pā, and then killed himself.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 13 Jun 2020. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.