Korokī
Māori King
Reign8 October 1933 – 18 May 1966
Coronation8 October 1933
PredecessorTe Rata
SuccessorTe Atairangikaahu
BornKorokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
16 June 1906
Waahi, Huntly
Died18 May 1966 (aged 59)
SpouseTe Atairangikaahu Hērangi
FatherTe Rata
MotherTe Uranga Matai

Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (16 June 1906 – 18 May 1966) was the fifth Māori King. He was the elder son of the fourth Māori King, Te Rata Mahuta, and Te Uranga Matai of the Ngāti Korokī tribe.

Biography

Mahuta was born at Waahi, Huntly, on 16 June 1906. He was named Korokī after the ancestor of his mother's tribe.[1] Korokī's younger brother Taipū died in 1924,[2] shortly after arriving at Wesley College.[1]

Korokī had a relationship with Te Paea Raihe, probably in the 1920s, and they had two daughters. In about 1930 Te Puea Herangi arranged for him to marry her niece Te Atairangikaahu, the daughter of her brother Wanakore Herangi. Te Atairangikaahu had a daughter, Piki, born in 1931. They adopted a son, Robert Mahuta, in 1939. Korokī and his family lived at Waahi.[1]

Korokī's father died on 1 October 1933, when Korokī was just 24.[2] He was chosen to succeed his father as king and accepted reluctantly. He was crowned on 8 October 1933, the day of his father's funeral.[1]

In his first few years as king, he was closely supervised by his father's brothers Tumate and Tonga Mahuta, and Haunui Tawhiao, brother of his grandfather King Mahuta. Two of his main confidants and supporters were Pei Te Hurinui Jones and Piri Poutapu.[1] In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.[3] On 30 December 1953 he received Queen Elizabeth II when she called at his official residence at Tūrangawaewae marae at Ngāruawāhia during the coronation tour.

He died at Ngāruawāhia on 18 May 1966 and was buried on Mount Taupiri on 23 May. He was succeeded by Piki, who was given her mother's name of Te Atairangikaahu at her coronation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ballara, Angela. "Koroki Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero 1908/1909? – 1966". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 Ballara, Angela. "Te Rata Mahuta Potatau Te Wherowhero". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Coronation Medal" (PDF). Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette. No. 37. 3 July 1953. pp. 1021–1035. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
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