Nene, Tāmati Wāka (1780?-1871), was a New Zealand Māori chief of the Ngā Puhi iwi (tribe) who was quick to see the advantages of early European settlement. He helped convince other Māori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement between Māori and British representatives that many New Zealanders view as the nation’s founding document.
The treaty, he argued, guaranteed Māori rights to New Zealand’s land and natural resources in return for British sovereignty and law and order in the country. Tāmati Wāka Nene strongly believed that even by 1840, after years of interaction and trading, it was too late for Māori to turn away from the Europeans and the goods and ideas they had brought with them. His speech persuaded many other Māori chiefs to sign the treaty, in large part because he argued that the British would protect them from unruly settlers and foreign invaders.
During the Northern War (1845-1846), Tāmati Wāka Nene fought on the government side against Hōne Heke, a Māori leader who challenged the authority of the British in New Zealand. The government awarded Tāmati Wāka Nene a pension for his services. He died on Aug. 4, 1871.
See also Waitangi, Treaty of.
