# Fenuapeho

Fenuapeho (1773–1831) was the chief of the island of Taha'a. He was the regent of Teri'inohorai, the grandson of Chief Tapoa I. He was lost at sea in 1831.

## Biography

He was about fifty years old and the father of a family with ten children when missionaries Tyerman and Bennet met him around 1823.
Around 1809, according to the testimony of chiefs Ma'i III and Tefa'aora III collected in 1845, Tapoa I held power over Raiatea and Taha'a, having displaced King Tamatoa III. He had also conquered the island of Bora Bora, compelling chiefs Ma'i and Tefa'aora to propose that he become king of Bora Bora to promote peace. These accounts align with the writings of John Davies (missionary), who reported that Tapoa I's daughter, Maevarua, had been recognized as the chief of Bora Bora and Tahaa. She died on July 14, 1809, in Raiatea from an illness.
Fenuapeho was a member of Tapoa I's family and had been appointed to ensure the regency of his grandson before he left for Tahiti to support Pomare II. He would be the uncle of Teri'inohorai according to missionary Charles Barff.
Tapoa I died in Tahiti at the end of November 1812. Tamatoa then regained his power over the island of Raiatea.
According to the testimonies of numerous chiefs in 1845, Pomare II drifted to the Leeward Islands aboard the Matilda on September 3, 1814, a brig from India piloted by Captain Fowler. During his stay, he adopted Tapoa I's grandson, Teriinohorai, giving him the name Pomare, betrothed him to his daughter Aimata, and declared him the legitimate sovereign of Tahaa, replacing his grandfather. He also appointed Fenuapeho as regent for the young Pomare. He was about seven years old at that time.
After diligently attending catechism classes in 1813-1814, Tamatoa III returned to his island of Raiatea around July 1814 and decided to embrace Christianity. At the beginning of the year 1816, the statues of the god ʻOro were burned on the Taputapuatea marae, which angered the supporters of idol worship. They allied with the chief Fenuapeho of Tahaa to oppose Tamatoa III. Fenuapeho was defeated, but his life was spared, and he retained his title as regent of the island of Tahaa thanks to Tamatoa's generosity.
This confrontation was mentioned in a letter from the missionaries dated August 13, 1816, which reported that Tamatoa III, or as he is now called Tapa, the chief, had publicly renounced idolatry and embraced Christianity. His example was followed by most of the other chiefs and by a large majority of the population across the four Society Islands: Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora. A war had recently broken out on Raiatea, one of the main causes being that Tapa and others had rejected and destroyed the idols. The idolaters had decided to seek revenge and attacked Tapa and his supporters, but they were themselves, as in Tahiti, completely defeated and later treated with much more clemency than they deserved.
In April 1831, the regent Fenuapeho died at sea, and power passed into the hands of the young Teri'inohorai or Pomare, who became Tapoa II. He opposed Tamatoa III and later his son Tamatoa IV. His goal was to reunify Taha'a and Bora Bora, just as in the time of his grandfather Tapoa I. However, he failed in his aspirations for greatness. On April 3, 1832, he was defeated at Vaitoare on the island of Tahaa, suffering heavy losses, and was subsequently exiled to the island of Huahine.