Origins & Early Life

Hongi Hika (c. 1772 – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māori leaders to understand the advantages of European muskets in warfare, he used them to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the early nineteenth century Musket Wars.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

In order to obtain the muskets Hongi Hika encouraged Pākehā (European) settlement, built mutually beneficial relationships with New Zealand's first missionaries, introduced Māori to Western agriculture and helped put the Māori language into writing. He traveled to England and met King George IV. His military campaigns resulted in the Musket Wars, and preventing them was an important motivator for the British annexation of New Zealand and subsequent Treaty of Waitangi with Ngāpuhi and many other iwi. Hongi Hika was born near Kaikohe into a powerful family of the Te Uri o Hua hapū (subtribe) of Ngāpuhi. His mother was Tuhikura, a Ngāti Rēhia woman.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

She was the second wife of his father Te Hōtete, son of Auha, who with his brother Whakaaria...

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