Honiana Te Puni / Te Āti Awa

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Papakainga
Honiana Te Puni, the eldest son of Rerewha-i-te-rangi and Puku, belonged to Ngāti Te Whiti and Ngāti Tawhirikura hapū of Te Ati Awa. His wife was Wikitoria Muri-tu-waka-roto and they had seven children.
With his uncle, Raua-ki-tua, he escaped Taranaki invaders attacking Rewarewa Pa by leaping from the cliff into the Waiwhakaiho River. He thus acquired the name Te Puni-kokopu.
He and Te Wharepouri, were involved in the defence of Pukerangiora pa, the battle against the Waikato at Motunui (about 1822) and they also made contact with Jacky Love and Dicky Barrett (around 1828). Te Puni visited Sydney in the Tohora in 1828.
Following the defence of Otaka Pa, 1831, Te Puni with many Te Ati Awa, migrated to Waikanae in the heke Tama-te-uaua. Te Puni cultivated at Te Koanga-a-umu, near Porirua, then moved to Okiwi and Palliser Bay.
With his people he spent time in Wairarapa, moved back to Matiu (1836) and was then invited by Matangi and Te Manihera to take up residence at Pito-one.
Te Puni and Te Wharepouri boarded the Tory, 20 September 1839, indicated the boundaries of land, and, with others, signed a deed of purchase on 27 September 1839 with the New Zealand Company. He also signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Port Nicholson on 29 April 1840.
Te Puni and Wi Tako were friendly with the settlers, and after the Boulcott farm incident were issued with 100 muskets to help keep peace. Te Puni became a friend of Governor Grey and the settlers, but later protested against Donald McLean’s purchase of the Waitara block. He died 5 December 1870.

Te Puni's monument in the Maori cemetery in the Hutt Valley.
Part of Barraud, Charles Decimus 1822-1897 : New Zealand Graphic and Descriptive. The illustrations by C. D. Barraud. Edited by W. T. L. Travers. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1877 (PUBL-0016)
Reference number: PUBL-0016-03, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
Images
The images you see below are displayed with kind permission. Click for a larger version of each image and a link to the source online. Please do not copy them without following their conditions of use.

The title of this work when acquired by the Alexander Turnbull Library in 1961, was Maori in whare at Pipitea Pa. However the man depicted bears a strong resemblance to Honiana Te Puni and the dogskin cloak being worn, with a lighter patch on the left front opening, is also very like the cloak shown in Barraud's other portraits of Te Puni. If the subject is Te Puni, the whare in which he is seated is more likely to be at Petone Pa than at Pipitea Pa. The sea and hills behind are also positioned as if from a view from of Petone Pa.
Reference number: B-005-015, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

Honiana Te Puni-kokopu. Part of Williams family : Photographs relating to the Williams family (PAColl-8045).
Reference number: 1/2-029567-F, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

On the right is the palisade of Te Puni's pa with the roof of one whare rising above the fence-line and a single high-roofed house on the plain further into the valley on the left. There is a lone male figure, carrying a long spear standing in the middle ground, between two trees.
Reference number: A-190-015, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

Scene at the grave of Honiana Te Puni, at Petone, after the Hon. W Nash had laid a wreath in memory of the late chief of the Ngatiawa as a prelude to yesterday's ceremonies. Photograph by an Evening Post staff member.
Reference number: PAColl-5482-004. Part of Evening Post : Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post newspaper (PA-Group-00287), Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

Attributed to Charles Decimus Barraud by New Zealand researcher, 1989. Used with the kind permission of the National Library of Australia, Reference nla.pic-an2273981

Te Puni is baptised by Rev Octavius Hadfield.
Used with the kind permission of the National Library of Australia, Reference nla.pic-an2273028
![E Puni, a Port Nic. [ie. Nicholson] chief](/maori/wellington/images/bio-tepuni-10s.jpg)
E Puni, a Port Nic. [ie. Nicholson] chief, H.M.S. Havannah. A watercolour by Philip Doyne Vigors, 1853?
Used with the kind permission of the National Library of Australia, Reference nla.pic-an2929987
![Banquet given at Wellington to native chiefs. [Pipitea Street, 1849, from a drawing by Mr J. H. Marriott]](/maori/wellington/images/bio-tepuni-11s.jpg)
From: Illustrated London news, 9 February 1850, p.84
The event took place on 17 April 1849 in the house of Dr Fitzgerald, next-door to the hospital according to an article in the Wellington Independent, 25 April 1849, p. 3. Dr Fitzgerald was in the chair, with Mr Henry St Hill as vice-chair. Octavius Hadfield was also present, along with Te Puni, Wi Tako and a large group of other Maori men, all listed in the article.
Reference number: PUBL-0033-1850-084, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

R. A. Day & Haghe. London, Smith, Elder [1845]
Reference number: PUBL-0011-04-1, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

Pitone Pa, Wellington, 59. Engraved by Henry Melville. Drawn by S C Brees. [London, 1847].
Reference number: PUBL-0020-20-1, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
![Pearse, John 1808-1882 :[Portraits of Maori. Between 1852 and 1856]](/maori/wellington/images/bio-tepuni-14s.jpg)
Epuni is represented in the top left.
Reference number: E-455-f-020, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
General Links
Below is a round-up of links relating to Honiana Te Puni online — have a browse.
Biographical overview
Below you'll find two encyclopaedia entries for Te Ati Awa chief Honiana Te Puni, published 24 years apart — one in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, and one published in 1990 in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography by Angela Ballara. Both are made available through Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Te Puni's signature on the Treaty
"Henry Williams, who had translated the Treaty of Waitangi into Māori, sailed from the Bay of Islands on 2 April 1840 with two Māori-language copies of the document. He left one with his brother William Williams at Tūranga (Gisborne) on 8 April. He arrived at Port Nicholson (Wellington) in mid-April, but for 10 days could not persuade chiefs to sign. A meeting was finally arranged on the schooner Ariel on 29 April, when 39 chiefs signed."
On the library site
Here are some resources related to Te Puni that the library has provided digital transcriptions of to make available online:
Other mentions
Books
Mentions and content related to Honiana Te Puni in books (print and online). The physical books we've mentioned can be accessed through the National Library of New Zealand. Have a browse!
Physical books
- He who digged a pit : a tale founded on fact, and other stories / by William Freeman (1889), p. 14/o
- Manual of New Zealand history / by J. Howard Wallace, p. 27
- The hand-book for New Zealand : consisting of the most recent information / compiled for the use of intending colonists by a late magistrate of the colony, who resided there during four years (1848), p. 100
- Adventure in New Zealand from 1839 to 1844 : with some account of the beginning of the British colonization of the islands / by Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1908) p. 52 etc, 137, 145, 150, 157
- The story of New Zealand : past and present : savage and civilized / by Arthur S. Thomson, Vol. 2 (1859). p. 226.
Digitised books & miscellanea
- Polynesian mythology / Sir George Grey (1855), p. 300
- Earliest New Zealand : the journals and correspondence of the Rev. John Butler / compiled by R.J. Barton (1927), p. 416, 420, 426
- The Death and burial of Te Puni, 1870. In Louis Ward's Early Wellington, (pp. 173-176).
- Index entry for Te Puni (Person)
This collects all references to Te Puni across the NZETC
Newspaper articles
Papers Past
From the National Library of New Zealand's Papers Past database (pertaining to the death of Honiana Te Puni).
- Funeral of Honiana Te Puni (1870, 9 December) Evening Post. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Funeral of Te Puni (1870, 10 December) Evening Post. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Death of Te Puni (1871, 3 January) Wellington Independent. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Wellington. (From our own correspondent.) (1870, 20 December) North Otago Times. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Wellington. (From our own correspondent.) (1870, 21 December) Taranaki Herald. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Local and General News (1871, 3 January) Wellington Independent. Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Funeral of Epuni (1872, 2 February) Wellington Independent. (Pertains to erecting a mausoleum) Retrieved from Papers Past.
- Death of Te Whiti ; The Big Tangi ; Interesting Reminiscences ; A Quiet Day (1907, 22 November) Taranaki Herald. (within “Death of Te Whiti”). Retrieved from Papers Past.
Letters & Manuscripts
The Donald McLean Papers
Donald McLean (1820-1877) was an influential figure in mid-19th century New Zealand history. He was a dominant figure in relations between Māori and the Government during this tumultuous period. These letters are from the Donald McLean Papers, and relate to land issues.
Please note: These letters are hosted on the National Library website and can be confusing to interact with — if you find this, you're not alone!
We've linked to this location, because mostly images are available on these records to view, but for more information and transcriptions and translations, opt to view the original record on Turnbull's collection portal, and then click to 'Access Digital Content'.

Letter from Te Puni to McLean, 7 Feb 1851
Letter written from Pitoone. 2 pages written 7 Feb 1851 by Honiana Te Puni-kokopu in Petone to Sir Donald McLean, related to Te Ati Awa.
Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference Number: MS-Papers-0032-0675B-03.

Letter from Te Honiana Puni to McLean and George Grey (with translation), 12 Oct 1852
Letter regarding land and local issues and includes contemporary translation and explanation of context by McLean. 7 pages, related to Sir George Grey, Honiana Te Puni-kokopu, Petone and Te Ati Awa.
Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference Number: MS-Papers-0032-0676E-01.

Letter from Te Puni to McLean, 15 Sep 1851
Letters written from Pitoone. 2 pages written 15 Sep 1851 by Honiana Te Puni-kokopu in Petone to Sir Donald McLean, related to Te Ati Awa.
Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference Number: MS-Papers-0032-0675H-09.

Letter from Honiana Te Puni to McLean, 16 Oct 1863
1 page, related to Honiana Te Puni-kokopu, Te Ati Awa.
Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference Number: MS-Papers-0032-0687E-05.
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