OBITUARY.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17084, 23 April 1927, Page 8

OBITUARY.

A WELL-KNOWN MAORI. Amongst the Maoris, of whom there are a great many in. and around Morrinsville, few men were better known and more generally respected than T. T. Rawhiti, who, after a long and eventful life, was conveyed to his last resting place at the Kiwitahi pa. The tangi was very largely attended, between 600 and 700 natives being present. Amongst them were. King Te Bala, forty of the leading natives of the Waikato, and many other prominent Maoris from Kaipara, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, and all the surrounding districts.

Rawhiti, who was born at Kawhia 76 years ago, was a brother-in-law of Tup'u Tangikawa, of Morrinsville. He had taken a great interest in political movements affecting the Maoris. He was secretary to the Maori Parliament when the late Kings Tawhiao and Mahuta, and under the present monarch, Te Rata Mahuta, only giving up the office a short time before his death. He made a point for many years of attending all important Maori gatherings. Personally he was of a genial, happy disposition, and for such an extraordinarily heavy man (26 stone weight) managed to do a lot of travelling. Being well educated, he took a keen interest in social and nolltical matters.