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The Story of Rua Kēnana, 1916

Rua Kēnana established his religious community at Maungapōhatu in the Urewera Region in 1907, and was arrested there in 1916. The Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill signed into law in 2019 aimed to restore his mana and reputation. SCIS no. 1966471

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Portrait of Rua Kenana. Taken by James Mcdonald in 1908. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).

Rua Kēnana and the teaching of history

Rua Kēnana and the teaching of history

Story: Rua Kēnana Hepetipa

Rua Kenana, sometimes known as Ruatapunui, has usually been considered to be the posthumous son of Kenana Tumoana of Ngati Kahungunu, who was killed fighting for Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki at Ma...

Rua Kēnana and his family

Rua Kēnana and his family

A selection of images, articles and video on Rua Kēnana and his whanau (family).

Rua Kenana Hepetipa meeting with Joseph George Ward on the beach at Whakatane

Rua Kenana Hepetipa meeting with Joseph George Ward on the beach at Whakatane

Rua Kenana Hepetipa meeting with Joseph George Ward on the beach at Whakatane, 23 March, 1908. Photographer unidentified. This image is published in the book 'Mihaia: The prophet Rua Kenana and hi...

David Grace | Rua Kenana - AUDIO

David Grace | Rua Kenana - AUDIO

Hear me O south wind no. 2

Hear me O south wind no. 2

The New Zealand Wars 5 - The East Coast Wars (Episode Five)

The New Zealand Wars 5 - The East Coast Wars (Episode Five)

This excerpt from the final part of James Belich's award-winning history series focuses on Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana — the target of the last action of the New Zealand Wars in 1916, 73 years after h...

Huruharama Hou, Maungapohatu

Huruharama Hou, Maungapohatu

Shows Huruharama Hou being decorated with evergreens and flowers for a gathering of Rua's adherents. Photograph taken by George Bourne in December 1915. Image first published in the Auckland Weekly...

Rua and followers. Maungapohatu.

Rua and followers. Maungapohatu.

A group of men, women and children are assembled in front of a tall flag pole flying four large flags, one of them Rua's flag, one New Zealand flag, one plain with the Union Jack in the top left co...

Pinepine Te Rika - Biography

Pinepine Te Rika was born probably in 1857 or 1858 at Rahitiroa, an old settlement of Ngati Kuri just east of Te Waiiti, in the Bay of Plenty. Her father was Te Rika Te Wheura (sometimes known as T...

RUA INTERVIEWED. (Poverty Bay Herald, 16 June 1908)

Children of the Mist

Children of the Mist

This NFU film visits the remote Urewera to explore the world of the Tūhoe people. Their independence and identity have been challenged by historical tensions with Pākehā, and now modernity — as ‘ch...

Ngā poropiti – Māori prophetic movements: Rua Kēnana – Tūhoe prophet

Te Kooti’s own sayings, about quests to be fulfilled, ensured that later leaders in his traditions would emerge. After his death in 1893, a number of prophets claimed to be his successor – his ‘Son...

Whare Māori - Kainga/The Village (First Episode)

Whare Māori - Kainga/The Village (First Episode)

This first episode of the award-winning Māori Television series looks at the influence of the idea of 'the village' on Māori architecture. Architect Rau Hoskins is guide; he ranges from traditional...

Raukura, Eria Tutara-Kauika - Biography

Eria Tutara-Kauika Raukura was the leading tohunga of the Ringatu church, founded by Te Kooti Arikirangi. His father, Raukura, from Ngai Tahupo of Mahia Peninsula, was taken prisoner by Tuhoe after...

Some Aspects Of The Leadership Of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki And Rua Kenana Hepetipa, By J. Binney, P 345-398 (Journal of the Polynesian Society: Myth And Explanation In The Ringatu Tradition)

Volume 93 1984 > Volume 93, No. 4 p 345-398 ; This essay is an exploration in the oral narrative tradition, and in the continuing use of mythological knowledge structures to establish the authorit...

Showing some of Rua's followers. Back Pita...

Showing some of Rua's followers. Back Pita...

Showing some of Rua's followers. Back Pita Te Taite, Teka Hekerangi, unknown, unknown,Tuhua Pari, unknown, Tauru Tuhua. Middle Tatu Horopapera, Wharepapa Hawiki. Front Te Wairama.

A vision enacted - Rua Kēnana’s lament in law

The Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill doesn’t just restore his mana, it adds his poetry to the law.

The Wisdom of the Maori - The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 1 (April 1, 1937)

By.Tohunga. The late Rua Kenana, or Ruatapu-nui, the spiritual leader of many hundreds of people of the Urewera and related tribes was one of those strongly individual characters who give a touch o...

Trial of Rua Kēnana

Trial of Rua Kēnana

A set of images and articles on the trial of Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana in 1916.

DEATH OF RUA (Evening Post, 25 February 1937)

RUA'S DOINGS. (Poverty Bay Herald, 29 August 1907)

A set of images, articles and video on Maungapōhatu, the community established by Rua Kēnana in 1907.

The arrest of Rua Kēnana

The arrest of Rua Kēnana

A set of images and articles covering the invasion of Maungapōhatu and the arrest of Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana.

Typhoid camp, Maungapohatu

Typhoid camp, Maungapōhatu

There was a typhoid outbreak in the winter of 1924 at Maungapōhatu. Sister Annie Henry helped to set up a camp with the Health Department. She was particularly impressed with the way Rua Kēnana wen...

Rua Kenana and the Reverend John George Laughton, possibly at Maungapohatu

Rua Kēnana and the Reverend John George Laughton

Rua and Presbyterian missionary Laughton stand on the steps of Rua’s new home at Maai which was said to be built from the timbers of the demolished council chamber, Hiona. When Rua returned from p...

CHARGE AGAINST WHATA RUA (Otago Daily Times 7-10-1916)

The charge against Whata Rua

Whata Rua or Whatu Rua, was arrested along with his father Rua Kēnana in April 1916, when police raided the Ngāi Tūhoe settlement of Maungapōhatu. He was charged with harming two constables with hi...

Pinepine Te Rika, wife of Rua Kenana Hepetipa

Pinepine Te Rika

Pinepine Te Raka was the first wife of Rua Kēnana Hepetipa. They were married in the 1880s. It is said they had 17 children. In this image (taken around the time Rua was on trial) she holds her gr...

Rua Kenana Hepetipa's wooden circular courthouse and meeting house at Maungapohatu

Hiona – Te Whare Kawana(House of the Governor)

Hiona was a circular building modelled on the ancient Hebrew temple, the Dome of the Rock. The upper chamber was for Rua, his wives and two chiefs. This served as a courthouse which had its entranc...

Maungapohatu School, formerly Rua Kenana's whare kanikani

Maungapohatu School, formerly Rua Kēnana's whare kanikani

Initially, Hiona was used for traditional dances. Later around 1914 a separate whare kanikani (circular dance hall) was built near Hiona. It was also used for indoor games by the children of Maunga...

Whakapapa (TMCC6)

View (or print) the curiosity card about whakapapa. Use the card’s fertile questions to inspire inquiry. Follow the link for more resources to help with teaching and learning.

Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896

An Act to make Provision as to the Ownership and Local Government of the Native Lands in the Urewera District.

Who are Tūhoe?

Romanticised one moment, betrayed the next, the Tuhoe tribe of Te Urewera have been an enigma to outsiders for 150 years. Now, with the settlement of its Treaty of Waitangi claims in sight, the iwi...

Maungapohatu revisited

Judith Binney reviews the history of Maungapohatu, the community founded and twice reconstructed by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kēnana Hepetipa, between 1907-1950.

Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921, by Judith Binney

This history documents the first hundred years of the Urewera following European contact, which includes a chapter on Rua Kēnana, 1911-1916. Read this book from the New Zealand History Collection ...

Pardon for Tūhoe prophet welcomed by Maori Party

In 2017, Māori Party co-leaders welcomed an agreement to pardon Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana. Read this article on Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre Plus, available through EPIC. School login may...

A website about the life of Rua Kēnana.

Māori leaders and heroes

This page from Many Answers will guide you to reviewed websites and databases on Māori leaders and heroes.

Story of Rua Kēnana – outlaw of the Urewera

Lyttleton Times (1916) on Rua Kēnana – his rise, the New Jerusalem, his life and prophecy.

Portrait of Rua Kēnana

Portrait of Rua Kēnana taken by Ben Keys at Whakatane, while travelling on Maori Land Board business.

Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara Kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill 2019

The Bill that seeks to restore the character, mana, and reputation of Rua Kēnana and his descendants.

Rain of the Children

Part detective documentary, part historical re-enactment — focuses on Puhi's life as the wife of Whatu, the son of Māori prophet Rua Kēnana.

Tūhoe area of interest is based around Te Urewera

General background and summary of the historical claims of Tūhoe.

Rua’s descendants want changes to official pardon

Descendants want Crown to take greater responsibility for the unlawful conviction of their ancestor.

Cultural interactions in 1800s NZ

Students inquire into challenges and opportunities created by cultural interactions between tangata whenua and European settlers in 1800s Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sister Annie Henry recalls Rua Kēnana

Sister Annie Henry recalls Rua, his seven wives, and the children of the mist.

The mountain of the Lord

A documentary about the Māori prophet Rua Kēnana and his temple of the Ringatū faith at Maungapōhatu in the Urewera district.

Find more information on this topic in EPIC. Databases recommended: New Zealand Geographic, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre Plus and New Zealand History Collection (BWB). School login may be...

Journeys in National Parks: Te Urewera

This episode looks at the unique spiritual relationship between the Tūhoe people, and the birds and bush of Te Urewera National Park.

Followers and descendants want to revive Iharaira faith

Followers and descendants of Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana want to revive their Israelite religion.

Rua Kēnana and WW1

Discouraging Tūhoe from enlisting in WW1 was one of the reasons why Rua Kēnana was arrested in 1916.

What drew Māori to Rua?

An investigation into why Māori were dissatisfied and how did they think that Rua would improve their situation.

Not much has changed in 96 years: 1916 Rua Kēnana - 2012 Tame Iti

Judge Rodney Hansen substituted himself for the jury and retried the defendants at sentencing in the same way that Frederick Chapman did in 1916.

Rua Kēnana – our Prophet from Te Urewera

An article on Rua Kēnana taken from a historical website, which recounts his history from the establishment of a New Jerusalem at Maungapōhatu in 1906, the Pākehā invasion in 1916 and his impris...

A flag day for Tūhoe

A flag confiscated by Crown forces was returned by the Auckland War Memorial Museum to Ngai Tūhoe.

The last shots fired in the New Zealand Wars

The invasion of Maungapōhatu.

History of Tūhoe from December 1865 onwards.

Research papers

Maungapohatu and the Maori Millennium

A theory of messianic movements applied to the cult of Rua Kēnana, a Tūhoe messiah, and his New Jerusalem in the Ureweras 1906 to 1916.

Rua Kenana Hepetipa, with some of his household and visitors, at Maai, Maungapohatu

Rua Kenana Hepetipa, with some of his household and visitors, at Maai, Maungapohatu

Rua Kenana Hepetipa, with some of his household and visitors, at the back of the house at Maai, May 1927. Back: Te Urikore, Te Aue, Te Akakura, Hikihiki, Pehirangi with her baby Te Ariki, Piimia w...

War in the Waikato ( 1863 - 1865)

War in the Waikato ( 1863 - 1865)

A series of images, articles, videos on the Waikato War fought between 1863 and 1864.

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