THE MAORI CONTINGENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 255, 27 October 1902, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE MAORI CONTINGENT.

The Maori Coronation detachment who returned by the Tong_riro from England number two officers and 30 men. The officers are Captain Taranaki te Ua, of Hawke's Bay, and Lieutenant Uru, of Woodend, Christchurch. All the members of the contingent are young men of good f amity, and embrace representatives of every tribe of importance in New Zealand. The following is a list of the contingent, with some facts concerning the principal men: —

Taranaki (Captain), Kahungunu Tribe, Hawke's Bay district. (A very popular youg chief with both races, he is a nephew of If. Tomoana, M.L.C., who received a sword of honour from •her late Majesty the Queen). Uru (Lieutenant), Ngaitahu Tribe, Kaia.<poi district. Tutura Rongo, Kahungunu Tribe, Wairoa districts. (A grandson of Tiakitai, who was a leaumg chief of the district; he is also cousin to the Hon. Native Minister, Mr. Carroll). Tamao Onekawa, of the Kahungunu Tribe, Wairoa district. (A younger branch of the above family). Rawiri .Tatana, of Ngatitoa and Ngati Huia Tribes, Otaki district. (This young chief descends from the ancestor Huia, after whom Lord Onslow's son, born in New Zealand, was named.) Te Tahuri, of the Ngatiraukawa and NgatiHuia Tribes, Horowhenna district. (Descends also from Huia, and comes from the Whatanui family.) Keepa Waitere, of the Ngatiapa Tribe, Rangitiki district. (His elders were the principals in the early land negotiations with the Government by which the Rangitikei became settled by Europeans.) Ariki Takarangi, of the Whanganui Tribe, PutiM. (A grandson of the old Whanganui chief, Mete Kingi, who was one of the first Maori members to sit in the New Zealand Parliament, when the Maori Representation Act became law in 1887.) Nai Te Tauri, Whanganui Tribe. (A relative of the late Major Keepa, who was one of the colony's bravest soldiers, and who received a sword of honour from her late Majesty.) Aomarama Tohu, Ngatiruanui Tribe, Taranaki district. Puke Te Rangi, Ngapuhi Tribe. (Comes from the family or hapu of the great Tamati Waka, who befriended the Europeans and fought on our side in Hone Heke's war.) Te Tane, Ngapuhi Tribe, Oromahoe district. (A young chief of high blood, coming from the same family as Hone Heke, the celebrated figbtlrng chief who cut down the British flagstaff at Kororareka in the forties.) Wikitahi, Ngatihau Tribe, Hokaanga district. (Comes from the Mohi Tawhai family.) Kawiti, of the Ngapuhi Tribe, Bay of Islands district. (A grandson of the original Kawiti, who was associated with Heke in the first Maori war against the Europeans, but who concluded terms of peace, and received from Governor Brown an ivory seal, representing her late Majesty's hand, which is treasured in the family as an heirloom.) iUtutaonga, Ngatiawa Hapu (Bay of Islands). Hongi, Ngapuhi Tribe, Bay of Islands district. (A fine young chief of good family, who is called after the great Hongi.) Otene Paora, Ngatdkfhatua Tribe, Orakei district, Auckland. (Corporal in the Auckland Mounted Rifles). Weihana Taramea, Apanui and Ngaiterangi Tribes, Bay of Plenty districts. Taite Heuheu, Tuwharetoa Tribe, Taupo district. (A descendant of the celebrated Te Heuheu, of Taupo Lake fame; the grandfather of this young chief, Te Heuheu Horonuku gave Mounts Tongariro and: Ruapehu as a gift to the Crown to form a National Park.) Tirua Tukiri, Waikato Tribe, Waikato district. Te Whatu, Waikato Tribe. (A nephew of the late Major Te Wheoro, at one time Maori member for the Western Maori district.) Te Parata, Ngaitahu Tribe, Waikouaiti district. (Son of Tame Parata, M.H.R.) Hare WahanuL Ngatimaniapoto Tribe, Otorobamga. (A young chief, a nephew of the late Wahanui, the great statesman and orator of the Waikato and Maniapoto Tribes. Kohere, of the Ngatiporou Tribe, Waiapu district. (Grandson of the late Mokena Kohere, who sat some years in the Legislative Council.) Ngatai, Ngatiporou Tribe, Waiapu. A. Waiari, Arawa Tribe, Rotorua. P. Hikairo, Arawk Tribe. P. Hakiwai, Upokoiri Tribe, Hawke's Bay district. Hare Paaka, Ngatiawa Tribe, Nelson. R. Meibana, Ngaitahu Tribe (Arahura), Westland. T. Wetere Ngatimamoa and Ngaitahu Tribes, Waitaki, Otago district. X Taiaroa, Ngaitahu Tribe, Canterbury district. (Son of H. JiTaiaroa, M.L-C.)