Te Kooti

Te Kooti (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori religious and military leader who founded the Ringatū faith and led armed resistance against colonial forces in New Zealand.

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Wharekauri: The Māori name for the Chatham Islands, where Māori communities lived alongside Moriori and later European settlers. Te Kooti was exiled to Wharekauri without trial during the New Zealand Wars.
Ringatū: A Māori Christian religious movement founded by Te Kooti, centered on scripture, prayer, and the raised hand as a sign of worship. It is the faith Te Kooti established and the enduring spiritual institution of his movement.
Chatham Islands escape: The 1868 escape of Te Kooti and other Māori prisoners from colonial exile on the Chatham Islands. The escape brought Te Kooti and his followers back to the mainland and into open conflict.
Te Ua Haumēne: A Māori prophet who founded the Pai Mārire religious movement in the 1860s. His religious movement preceded Te Kooti’s and helped shape the wider landscape of Māori prophetic leadership.
Kīngitanga: The Māori King movement, established in the 1850s to unite Māori communities and protect their authority and land. It offers a distinct political movement for comparing Māori responses to colonial expansion.
Poverty Bay: A bay and surrounding district on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, near present-day Gisborne. His return to Poverty Bay in 1868 began the campaign that made him a leading resistance figure.
Pai Mārire: A nineteenth-century Māori religious movement founded by Te Ua Haumēne, also known as Hauhau. Its prophetic Christianity offers a nearby precedent for Māori religious resistance, though Te Kooti founded a distinct faith.
Battle of Te Ngutu o te Manu: An 1868 battle in which Māori forces under Te Kooti defeated a colonial expedition in the central North Island. The victory demonstrated his forces’ ability to defeat colonial troops in a major engagement.
Rāpata Wahawaha: A Ngāti Porou leader and colonial ally who commanded Māori forces in campaigns against Te Kooti. His forces pursued Te Kooti, illustrating divisions among Māori communities during the wars.
Te Kooti’s pardon: The 1883 government pardon that ended Te Kooti’s status as an outlaw, subject to conditions restricting his movements. The pardon formalized the end of his pursuit without resolving every conflict over his return.