Te Keepa Ngapapa, d. March 1871
Below is an online version, from Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 2 (2003), of the biography for Te Keepa Ngapapa, reproduced with the kind permission of his whānau.
Published Text
"Te Keepa Ngapapa". In Nga tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, volume 2. (2003)
Te Keepa Ngapapa also known as Te Kepa Ngapapa belonged to Ngati Tama. He was the son of Wharewhare-i-te-rangi (matua) and Kiri, the grandson of Tauiraiti (matua) and Kau and the great, grandson of Te Ua (matua) and Te Kura. Te Keepa had four children. Te Keepa’s first wife called Anete (Neta) Te One One was from a Whanganui tribe. They had two children, a daughter called Maraea Keepa also known as Rangihaui Ngapapa and a son called Wi Keepa, Wi Kipa, Patukawenga Ngapapa or Wiremu Keepa Ngapapa. Te Keepa’s second wife was called Ramari or Whare Karetu and they had two sons, the first called Kepa Whare or Tuterangiaima Keepa or Umuhau Ngapapa. The second was called Te Whiu Keepa or Te Whiu Ngapapa. The second family lived at Otakeho near Manaia although all four children were reported as living at Parihaka in the 1880s.
Te Keepa Ngapapa came with the Ngati Tama to Ohariu after the batte of Haowhenua (1834). One group of Ngati Tama was reported as living either at Ohariu, Tiakiwai or Pakuao during their time in the Wellington area and one of their cultivation grounds was Otari. Various witnesses said Otari belonged to Ngati Kura as distinct from the other cultivations belonging to Kaiwharawhara and Te Kaeaea’s people, (the Ngati Wai hapu of Ngati Tama).
Te Keepa signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Port Nicholson on the 29th April 1840 and also the Deeds of Release at Tiakiwai on the 23rd February 1844 with two others. He also signed the McCleverty deed for Ohariu in 1847. He had a major interest in Town Acre no. 659 which was the site of the Pakuao kainga in Thorndon. In 1852 Te Keepa leased this site to William Couper. After the confrontation between Rangihaeata and Governor Grey in the Hutt Valley in 1846, Tiakiwai and Pakuao were virtually abandoned as permanent residences and the Ngati Tama lived mainly at Ohariu. However some settled in the Hutt Valley with Te Kaeaea. Others are mentioned at Mukamuka, Titahi Bay or Waikanae. Te Keepa lived his later life in Taranaki where he had land interests in the Opua Block and Lower Waitara. His brother Hakaraia Parua signed the Deeds of Release at Pakuao with Wiremu Omere in 1844. Hakaraia also signed the Deeds at Te Ikamaru with three others. Te Keepa Ngapapa died in March 1871 at Urenui, Taranaki.
References:
- Wellington MB no. 1H p.344-350, Wellington MB no. 3 p.23, Wellington MB no. 9 p.88
- Taranaki MB no.1, p. 3, 9, Taranaki MB no. 4 p.418, Taranaki MB no. 15 p.119-120.
- Alexander Turnbull Library manuscripts MSZ-0085B — Hakaraia te Parua
- Nga Waahi taonga o te Whanganui-a-Tara : Maori land sites of Whanganui-a-Tara. Wellington : Wellington City Council, 1995. M59 Pakuao kainga.
(MB = Minute Book)
I Te Reo Māori -
Ko Te Keepa Ngapapa, e mōhiotia ana hoki ko Te Kepa Ngapapa, he uri nō Ngāti Tama. Ko ia te tamaiti a Wharewhare-i-te-rangi (matua) rāua ko Kiri, ā, he mokopuna ia nā Tauiraiti (matua) rāua ko Kau, ā, he uri nā Te Ua (matua) rāua ko Te Kura. Tokowhā ngā tamariki a Te Keepa. Ko te hoa wahine tuatahi o Te Keepa ko Anete (Neta) Te One One, ā, nō tētahi iwi o Whanganui ia. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki, arā, ko Maraea Keepa te tamāhine, ā, e mōhiotia ana hoki ko Rangihaui Ngapapa, ā, ko tā rāua tamaiti ko Wi Keepa, ko Wi Kipa, ko Patukawenga Ngapapa, ko Wiremu Keepa Ngapapa rānei. Ko te hoa wahine tuarua o Te Keepa ko Ramari, ko Whare Karetu rānei, ā, tokorua ā rāua tamaiti, ko te mātāmua ko Kepa Whare, ko Tuterangiaima Keepa, ko Umuhau Ngapapa rānei. Ko te pōtiki ko Te Whiu Keepa, ko Te Whiu Ngapapa rānei. Ka noho tēnei whānau tuarua ki Otakeho, e tata ana ki Manaia, ahakoa ka rīpoatatia ka noho katoa ngā tamariki tokowhā ki Parihaka i ngā tau 1880.
I tae mai a Te Keepa Ngapapa me Ngāti Tama ki Ohariu i muri i te pakanga o Haowhenua (i te tau 1834). I rīpoatatia kia kotahi te rōpū o Ngāti Tama ka noho ki Ohariu, ki Tiakiwai, ki Pakuao rānei, i te wā e noho ana rātou ki te takiwā o Pōneke, ā, ko Otari tētahi o ō rātou ngakinga. E ai ki ētehi kaiwhakaatu ko Otari te whenua ō Ngāti Kura, ā, he whenua ahurei ki ngā ngakinga ō Kaiwharawhara me ngā tāngata o Te Kaeaea (ko te hapū o Ngāti Wai nō Ngāti Tama).
I waitohu a Te Keepa i te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Port Nicholson i te 29 o Paengawhāwhā i te tau 1840, ā, i waitohu hoki ia me ētehi atu i ngā Pukapuka Tuku o te Rīti ki Tiakiwai i te 23 o Huitanguru i te tau 1844. I waitohu hoki ia i te Pukapuka Tuku o McCleverty mō Ohariu i te tau 1847. He whai panga nui tōna ki te Eka Taone nama 659, ārā te wāhi o te kāinga o Pakuao i te takiwā o Thorndon. I te tau 1852, ka rīhi a Te Keepa i tēnei wāhi ki a William Couper. Whai muri i te pakanga i waenganui i a Rangihaeata rāua ko Kawana Grey ki Te Awakairangi i te tau 1846, kāore i roa ka mahue noa a Tiakiwai me Pakuao hei kāinga noho, ā, ka noho te nuinga o Ngāti Tama ki Ohariu. Otinō, ka noho ētahi me Te Kaeaea ki Te Awakairangi. Ka kōrerotia hoki e noho ana ētehi atu ki Mukamuka, ki Titahi Bay, ki Waikanae rānei. I tōna koroheketanga, ka noho a Te Keepa ki Taranaki, ā, he whai panga ōna ki te Poraka o Opua me Lower Waitara. I waitohu tāna teina a Hakaraia Parua me Wiremu Omere i ngā Pukapuka Tuku o te Rīti ki Pakuao i te tau 1844. I waitohu hoki a Hakaraia me ngā tāngata tokotoru i ngā Pukapuka Tuku ki Te Ikamaru. I mate a Te Keepa Ngapapa i Poutū-te-rangi i te tau 1871 ki Urenui, ki Taranaki.