Arama Karaka Pī

Arama Karaka Pī signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 12 February 1840 at Mangungu, Hokianga. He also attended the 28 April signing at Kaitāia, where he spoke in favour of the treaty. He was chief of the Māhurehure hapū (subtribe) of Ngāpuhi, based at Waimā in Hokianga. In 1827 he objected that he had not been consulted over the sale of land at Rāwene, on Hokianga Harbour. He married Rongo (also known as Hariata), who had previously been married to Hone Heke Pōkai. His son was Wiremu Arama Karaka and his brother was Te Mokaraka. Source: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/signatory/1-139.

On 5th March 1832, the armed sailing cutter Taeopa, one of New Zealand’s first Maori gun boats, entered Tauranga Harbour by the Katikati entrance. Owned and skippered by the Ngapuhi chief Arama Pi, and carrying heavily armed Maori and Pakeha-Maori fighting men, it made a swift reconnaissance of the harbour before departing. The rangatira Arama Karaka Pi also known as Pihungu, lived at Waima, Hokianga and was one of the principal leaders of the Te Mahurehure hapu. In 1831, with the assistance of Eruera Maihi Patuone, he purchased a European sailing vessel. As the intertribal Musket Wars raged, many Ngapuhi and Southern Ngai Tahu rangatira began mounting cannon or carronades in the bows of their sailing cutters and whale boats, before deploying them as gun boats against enemy tribesmen on land and sea. Pi and Patuone’s acquisition was the 18-ton cutter Emma, purchased from the notorious captain of the Elizabeth, John Stewart who had transported Te Rauparaha and his warriors on their mission of slaughter to Bank’s Peninsula in 1830. Pi renamed his new vessel Taeopa (Tae opa) ‘to prevail over and drive out’ and, with the aid of Hokianga Pakeha-Maori, had a nine pound carronade mounted in the bow. On 5th March 1832, the armed sailing cutter Taeopa, one of New Zealand’s first Maori gun boats, entered Tauranga Harbour by the Katikati entrance. Owned and skippered by the Ngapuhi chief Arama Pi, and carrying heavily armed Maori and Pakeha-Maori fighting men, it made a swift reconnaissance of the harbour before departing. The rangatira Arama Karaka Pi also known as Pihungu, lived at Waima, Hokianga and was one of the principal leaders of the Te Mahurehure hapu. In 1831, with the assistance of Eruera Maihi Patuone, he purchased a European sailing vessel. As the intertribal Musket Wars raged, many Ngapuhi and Southern Ngai Tahu rangatira began mounting cannon or carronades in the bows of their sailing cutters and whale boats, before deploying them as gun boats against enemy tribesmen on land and sea. Pi and Patuone’s acquisition was the 18-ton cutter Emma, purchased from the notorious captain of the Elizabeth, John Stewart who had transported Te Rauparaha and his warriors on their mission of slaughter to Bank’s Peninsula in 1830. Pi renamed his new vessel Taeopa (Tae opa) ‘to prevail over and drive out’ and, with the aid of Hokianga Pakeha-Maori, had a nine pound carronade mounted in the bow. Source: Arama Karaka Pi and the Taeopa: Early Sailing Vessels and Visitors to Tauranga, Part XVII by Trevor Bentley (Tauranga Historical Society blog) http://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2021/09/arama-karaka-pi-and-...