TÃÂmihana (born Katu) Te Rauparaha (1820s – October 1876) was a New Zealand MÃÂori leader, Christian evangelist, assessor, writer and farmer.
Katu was born in Pukearuhe, Taranaki, New Zealand, in the early 1820s, the son of the great NgÃÂti Toa leader Te Rauparaha and his fifth and senior wife, Te ÃÂkau of Tà «hourangi. His family and tribe soon moved to Kapiti Island. He went with his father on war expeditions while still a child.
Christianity was introduced to the Kapiti region by MÃÂori who had been captives in the Bay of Islands and were released when their captors converted to Christianity. Kahu and his cousin Te Whiwhi went to the Bay of Islands to ask for a missionary to be stationed in the Kapiti region, with the result that Octavius Hadfield moved and settled there. Katu was strongly influenced by Church Missionary Society teaching. He was baptised by Hadfield on 21 March 1841 and adopted the name TÃÂmihana.
In December 1842, TÃÂmihana and Te Whiwhi went to the South Island as missionaries. TÃÂmihana worked there until June 1843, in the process easing NgÃÂi Tahu fears of renewed conflict with his father. He cut short the trip and returned home on hearing of the Wairau Affray. He married Ruta Te Kapu in à Âtaki in September 1843.
In October 1850, he sailed for England, where he was presented to Queen Victoria. On his return TÃÂmihana became supportive of the idea of a MÃÂori King to unify tribes. Initially he joined the King movement in opposing the selling of MÃÂori land to the government, but when Wiremu Këngi Te RangitÃÂke, a chief of Te ÃÂti Awa, got into conflict with the government over the sale of land at Waitara, he broke with the movement and sided with the government over issues of land and sovereignty.
He died on 24 October 1876 and is said to be buried in an unmarked grave at à Âtaki, beside his wife. They had had no children, but had an adopted son.
Between 1866 and 1869 TÃÂmihana wrote a 50,000 word account in te reo MÃÂori about his father, the great Te Rauparaha called He pukapuka tÃÂtaku i ngÃÂ mahi a Te Rauparaha nui / A record of the life of the great Te Rauparaha which was translated most recently into English by Ross Calman and published by Auckland University Press in 2020. There was an earlier translation between 1915 and 1918 by George Graham although there were flaws in Grahams translation partly due to the copy he used to translate from and partly he mistranslated some sections.