DEATH AT 116 YEARS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21879, 15 August 1934, Page 13

DEATH AT 116 YEARS

' TARANAKJ MAORI WOMAN MEMORIES OF EARLY DAYS COMING OF THE PAKEHA [BY TELEGRAPH —rRESS ASSOCIATION*] WAXGAXUI, Tuesday Reputed to be 116 years of age, Tuebo Rangi died yesterday at Manutahi Pa, nearly half a century after the death of her only sister. She was born at Manawapou Pa, near Hawera, this pa being then supposed to be the largest in the North Island. Tuehe Rangi married Tupcto, head chief at Otoia Pa, and they had four children, none of whom is alive.

In 1873, four years after her first husband's death, Tuehe Rangi married his youngest brother, Tutange, who has been dead 40 years. There were no children of this marriage. Tutange was supposed to have been one of a party which ambushed Major Kemp, while it is understood that he was one of the "North Island rebels who were arrested and banished to the South Island.

Tuehe Rangi lived at Whakamara, retiring to Manutahi some 14 years ago. She probably was the only Maori woman who remembered the coming of the pakeha, and often related the story of her meeting with the father of Mr. Leslie Hamilton, one of the first white men to reside at Manutahi.

During the Maori wars, Tuehe Rangi did duty on the side of the Maori and the pakeha alternately, and of happenings of those days she had told many tales to Maori children who are now grey-haired men and women.

The body of Tuehe Rangi lies in state in a tent at Manutahi. Pa, where over 100 relatives and friends are holding a tangi. Surrounding the bier are her belongings, photographs of her husbands and many valuable Maori articles.