Ropata Wahawaha ( – 1 July 1897) was a Māori military leader and rangatira (chief) of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe) who rose to prominence during New Zealand's East Cape War and Te Kooti's War.
Born in 1820 in the Waiapu Valley on the East Cape, he was enslaved as a boy and became known as Rāpata Wahawaha. He later obtained his freedom and as an adult, became known as Ropata. In 1865, he fought against the Pai Mārire religious movement when it expanded into the East Cape area. During the conflict, he became rangatira of Te Aowera, a hapū (subtribe) of Ngāti Porou. As a Kūpapa, a Māori allied to the New Zealand Government, he fought alongside the Volunteer Force, New Zealand's militia, and led war parties against the Pai Mārire and their presence in the East Cape region was largely eliminated by mid-1866.
From 1868 to 1871, he commanded Ngāti Porou war parties in the pursuit of Te Kooti, a rebel Māori leader whose religious movement, Ringatū, threatened the security of the East Cape region. During the conflict he played a key role in the capture of Te Kooti's pā (hill fort) at Ngatapa, for which he was awarded the New Zealand Cross and was made a major in the Volunteer Force. His pursuit of Te Kooti was motivated by a desire to ensure that Ngāti Porou land was not subject to seizure by the Government. In his later years, he commanded the militia in the Ngāti Porou district, was a land agent and a member of the Legislative Council.
Early life
Rāpata Wahawaha was born about 1820 either in Te Puia Springs or Akuaku, in the Waiapu Valley on the East Cape. He was the son of Hīpora Koroua and Te Hapamana Te Whao. He was of the Te Aowera hapū (sub-tribe) of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), one of the major Māori iwi in the eastern regions of the North Island of New Zealand.
As a child Ropata was captured by the Rongowhakaata iwi during a conflict with Ngāti Porou over disputed land. He became the slave of Rāpata Whakapuhia whose name he perforce adopted. However, in later years when he rose to prominence he worked closely with Donald McLean who, having a broad Scottish accent, habitually pronounced his name as "Ropata" and it became the name by which he is generally known. He preferred this as it disassociated him from the period of life when he was a slave. By 1839 Ropata had gained his freedom and was living with the Ngāti Porou. He was married to Harata Te Ihi whose nephew, Paratene Ngata, was raised in their household.
East Cape War
Little is known of Ropata's life following his marriage until 1865, when the East Cape War broke out. Ngāti Porou had become divided following the arrival on the East Cape that year of the leaders of the Pai Mārire religious movement. The religion espoused its followers, known as Hauhau, immunity to bullets and sought to move pākehā (European New Zealanders) off Maori land. It also advocated for the Kingites. Some of the hapū of Ngāti Porou converted to the new religion while others opposed it.
Owing to the work of missionaries in the area since the 1830s, many Ngāti Porou, including Ropata's hapū, had a strong Christian faith. They were angered by the murder of Carl Völkner by the Hauhau in early 1865. Furthermore, they realised that alignment with Pai Mārire would lead to conflict with the New Zealand Government, and a risk of confiscation of their land, as had happened elsewhere in the country.
Waiapu Valley campaign
Ropata himself was staunchly Anglican, and was a founding member of the diocese of Waiapu. On 5 June, he was among a number of Te Aowera attending celebrations for the establishment of a church at Popoti, when they were advised that some Hauhau had arrived in the Waiapu Valley. In response to pleas by a Ngāti Porou leader, he gathered a party of 40 men, mainly from his own hapū of Te Aowera. His party was poorly equipped, with only a few flintlock muskets among them, and traditional weapons such as mere (club) and taiaha (staff). In contrast, the Hauhau were armed with modern rifles. On 20 June Ropata led an attack on the Hauhau, who had established a pā (hill fort) at Mangaone. Although the Te Aowera were defeated, Ropata gained some notoriety when, in single combat, he killed a Hauhau leader. The rangatira (chief) of the Te Aowera was killed in the engagement and Ropata succeeded him as the leader of his hapū. He suffered another defeat two days later when his party was driven off during an attack of the Hauhau's pā at Pukemaire. In addition, their own pā at Tikitiki was captured.