King Potatau - An account of the life of Potatau Te Wherowhero the first Maori king

Author(s): Pei Te Harinui Jones

Te Ao Māori

This book details the background to the Kingitanga and also tells the story of the first king, Potatau Te Wherowhero.


King Potatau details the background to the Kingitanga and the story of the first king, Potatau Te Wherowhero.  It discusses the momentous events of Te Wherowhero's life from around 1775 to his death in 1860, including his status as Lord of the Waikato and the famous battles and conflicts with other tribes, his raising up as the First Maori King, and Mana Motuhake, the Maori Kingship, set apart as the symbol of the spiritual and cultural life of Maori.  This biography of King Potatau is written from a Maori perspective, employing waiata, poetry and whakapapa as well as prose.

General Information

  • : 9781869694234
  • : Huia Publishers
  • : Huia Publishers
  • : 448.0
  • : 01 August 2010
  • : New Zealand
  • : 01 April 2025
  • : books

Other Specifications

  • : Pei Te Harinui Jones
  • : Paperback
  • : 2nd Revised edition
  • : 320

More About The Product

Pei Te Hurinui (1898-1976), Ngati Maniapoto leader, interpreter, land officer, writer, translator, genealogist, was bilingual and published extensively in both English and Maori. He translated several of Shakespeare's plays and Fitzgerald's Omar Khayyam into Maori and collaborated with Sir Apirana Ngata, on the first three volumes of Nga Moteatea. His first and main interest was in recording and compiling the Tainui traditions published in Nga Iwi o Tainui.