Te Rauparaha

Te Rauparaha
Sketch of Te Rauparaha
Born	c. 1760s Kāwhia, New Zealand
Died	27 November 1849 Ōtaki, New Zealand
Buried	Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki; probably reinterred on Kapiti Island
Allegiance	Ngāti Toa
Battles / wars	Musket Wars Wairau Affray

Te Rauparaha (c. 1760s – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira, warlord, and chief of the Ngāti Toa iwi. One of the most powerful military leaders of the Musket Wars, Te Rauparaha fought a war of conquest that greatly expanded Ngāti Toa southwards, receiving the epithet "the Napoleon of the South". He remains one of the most prominent and celebrated New Zealand historical figures.

Born probably in the 1760s, Te Rauparaha's conquests eventually extended Ngāti Toa authority from Miria-te-kakara at Rangitikei to Wellington, and across Cook Strait to Wairau and Nelson. He participated in land sale and negotiations with the New Zealand Company at the beginning of the colonisation of New Zealand. An early signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Rauparaha was later central to the Wairau Affray in the Marlborough district, considered by many to be the first of the conflicts in the New Zealand Wars. Shortly before he died he led the building of Rangiātea Church in Ōtaki.

Te Rauparaha transformed Ngāti Toa from a small tribe to one of the richest and most powerful in New Zealand, changing Māori tribal structures permanently.^[1] He was an accomplished composer of haka, with "Ka Mate" being well known due to its performance in sport.^[2] In 2005, a panel of historians and journalists ranked Te Rauparaha 16th out of the 100 most influential figures in New Zealand history.