He Toa Whawhai Mō Ōna Iwi

Winiata Te Wharo was born c.1825 at Te Koutu on the Rangitīkei River. His mother Kinokino, and father, Turitakoto, raised him with intimate knowledge of the whenua, wai and all natural resources. He was also fluent in the traditional knowledge of his people, whakapapa and culture. His whakapapa (genealogy) from Indigenous pre waka iwi and Tākitimu provide unquestionable mana whenua over vast tracts of land.

He fought at the battle of Ōrākau in 1864, answering the call for iwi support to thwart off invading colonial troops. A few years later, another call for assistance from even closer kin, saw him fight alongside Rēnata Kawepō.

Gleaning information from newspaper articles and letters, Winiata had a good mind for business, was highly intelligent and could think laterally to overcome problems. He was steadfast and resolute in his pursuit of justice, and he fought hard and long at great personal cost for hapū and iwi whenua.

By 1868 he had married Pēti Mokopuna Hamilton. Pēti was born in Ōtaki in 1850 and descends from Tainui Waka via Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Wairangi; Te Arawa Waka via her Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Te Kōhera side and Tākitimu Waka through Ngāi Te Upokoiri.

Near the end of the 1870s Winiata Te Wharo was one of several rangatira within Mōkai Pātea who took up a career farming sheep, beginning at Waiokaha (see map for location). After a short stay there, he moved his stock and family to more fertile whenua at Pokopoko.

Pokopoko is part of an extensive and fertile block of land named Mangaōhane, firmly nestled within Ngāti Paki lands. Water, food, firewood and native grasses (which made excellent grazing) were all plentiful at Pokopoko. It was not long before a small, thriving community was established with a wharepuni, a shop, a church, wooden homes, a “woolshed clad in manuka bark", a "fenced stockyard" and extra houses used year after year for shearing. Hapū and whānau numbers also increased and prospered, and Pēti birthed the seven youngest of their children at Pokopoko.

John Studholme coveted the lush Mangaōhane lands and engaged Walter Buller, a prominent lawyer, and others, to help him attain the land. Beginning in December 1879, he dragged Winiata through the courts with relentless litigation.

This letter, accessioned into the Whanganui Regional Museum as part of the Batley Collection, was written by Winiata Te Wharo, his brother Irimana, and their close whanaunga, Pirimona Te Urukahika and Arona Te Raurimu. They were all recognised rangatira of Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Paki at that time.

This letter is a reply to George Donnelly (Taonui) and his friends being John Studholme Snr, John Studholme Jnr and their lawyers Walter Buller, and Messrs Bell and McClean stating they were not scared of their threats to send the police to forcible remove them from the land.

Donnelly had married a female relative of Winiata, being Airini, a niece of Rēnata Kawepō. His networks were very influential with government and settlers.

Studholme, like Donnelly, was well connected with key judicial and political figures, and they pressed their networks - the Crown, through the Native Land Court process, facilitated the privatisation, alienation and fragmentation of the Mangaōhane Land Block.

The Crown also assisted Studholme by passing legislation on several occasions, which he could use to give effect to deeds that were otherwise invalid and were in breach of the Native Land Amendment Act 1883.

In 1895, the Validation of Invalid Land Sales Act was passed and thus underhanded Pākehā misdealings concerning Māori land were instantly legitimised. In 1896, Studholme secured land titles on Mangaōhane and Pokopoko and sought aid to evict the "illegal squatters" when they would not leave voluntarily.

On Tuesday, May 18, 1897, Sergeant Cullen of Whanganui, assisted by constables Sherman and Black, with Barnes as the interpreter, unlawfully and illegally arrested Winiata Te Wharo. The Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Paki community were forcibly evicted from their Mangaōhane lands in the middle of the night. Winiata and his immediate whānau were marched through the cold Makokomiko Stream to Waiokaha. The rest of the community was dispersed and threatened with imprisonment if any people returned, no-one was allowed to return to their working farm which provided their livelihood, and they were all b rendered landless in their own homeland as a result.

The men in the arresting party reported that they destroyed five houses, sheds full of wool bales, a store and the church by setting them alight. They took the 10,000 sheep and over 10,000 acres.

Winiata was transported to Wellington and two days passed before he was finally fed - as his jailers did not want him to die on their hands. He was given the ultimatum that if he wanted to be released from jail to return home to his wife, tamariki and the hapū, then he must promise to never return to Pokopoko.

True to his word, and with a family to care for, Winiata Te Wharo gave the court his word. He established Winiata Marae, on State Highway 1, just two kilometres south of Ōtaihape. His legacy for Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Paki lives on; unfortunately, his descendants still battle for the return of the stolen lands.

When one homestead is destroyed, seek refuge in another

'Whanganui Chronicle, Monday, June 24, 2019'

Additional Article: Museum Notebook: Pokopoko letterhead gifted to museum - NZ Herald