Wēpiha Apanui

I tupu ake ia ki ngā mahi a te rangitira, pēnei i te whakairo. E rua ngā whare whakairo nāna i āwhina te whakairo, te hanga. Ko Mataatua tētahi, ko Hotunui tētahi. Ka whakatuwheratia a Mataatua i te 8 o Poutū-te-rangi 1875. Ko Hotunui i mahia hei taonga tuku ki te tuahine o Wēpiha, ki a Mereana rāua ko tōna hoa rangatira a Wīrope Hōterene Taipari, he rangatira nō roto o Ngāti Maru o Hauraki. Ko te mea mīharo ko te waihanga i ēnei whare ataahua e rua i te wā tonu e pēhia ana a Ngāti Awa e ngā raruraru o aua tau.

He tangata kaha hoki a Wēpiha ki te whai i te mahi runanga i muri i te whakatūnga nā Hōri Kerei i te Ture Runanga i ngā tau i muri i te 1860. I Whakatāne tonu, koia tētahi o ngā rangatira o te Runanga o Te Horo, tētahi o ngā runanga o Ngāti Awa. E kīa ana hoki koia tētahi i huri ki te whakapono Hauhau.

Nō te 2 o Poutū-te-rangi 1865, ka patua a Te Wākana e ngā Hauhau, ā, ka tīmata ngā raruraru ki a Ngāti Awa. Nā Wēpiha i tuhi he reta ki a Tā Hori Kerei ki te mea atu kāore a Ngāti Awa i whakauru atu ki aua mahi; nō Te Whakatōhea kē te hē. Nā ngā rangatira o Whakatāne te reta i haina, tae noa ki ngā rangatira o Ngāti Pūkeko. I muri noa atu, ka haina a Wēpiha i tētahi reta anō a Ngāti Awa, me te pānui kei roto kia mōhio ai a Te Arawa kua rāhuitia ngā whenua o Ngāti Awa. Ko te āhua nei, kua mōhio a Ngāti Awa e whakatika ana a Te Arawa ki te whakaeke ki ō rātou whenua i raro i te maru o te Kāwanatanga. 

Ka mate a Wēpiha i te tau 1880. Engari, e tū tonu aua whare hei maumaharatanga mōna, tae noa ki ēnei rā.

Ingoa atu
Wēpiha Te Mautaranui

Herenga whakapapa
Ngāti Awa
Te Whānau-a-Apanui
Ngāti Hokopū, Whakatāne
Ngāti Wharepāia, Whakatāne

Tohutoro
Layne Harvey, 'Ngāti Awa', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 3-Apr-2006. URL: www.TeAra.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/NgatiAwa/mi
Hirini Moko Mead, 'Apanui, Wēpiha', Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau 1870-1900. Wellington: Te Tari Taiwhenua, Bridget Williams Books, 1994:1-3.
Hoani Nahe, tuhinga-ā-ringa, Auckland City Library, NZMSS 713: 25-34, (1860).

Category:Tohunga whakairo