Commemorations

Kereopa and Te Mänihera of Taranaki Martyrs at Türangi

Te Mänihera and Kereopa were members of the Ngäti Ruanui tribe from Hawera on the Taranaki coast. Te Mänihera was an important chief and one of the first to become a Christian. Te Mänihera was the name he took when he was baptised (after Robert Maunsell the CMS missionary). He was Poutama of the Tangahoe hapu of Ngäti Ruanui. He was captured twice, first in a Wakatö raid and taken to Tämaki, and then in a Nga Puhi raid on Tämaki. While he was being taken north, he was put on a ship taking the Wesleyan missionary, the Revd Walter Lawry, to Tonga. Lawry bought Poutama’s freedom and took him to Tonga. On the way, Poutama rescued the Lawry’s young son when he was washed overboard. Poutama was on Tonga for 18 months, but eventually returned to Waokena near Hawera. For many years he was the head teacher of his tribe at Waokena and Whareroa. The Revd Richard Taylor said of him:

He was always conspicuous for piety and attention to his duties, and instead of his first love growing cold, his appeared to increase with time; indeed, his love of Christ was written upon his countenance.
This sense of commitment to the gospel led Te Mänihera to offer to go to the traditional enemies of his tribe at Taupö to share the gospel of peace. There were significant and unresolved grievances between the tribes. Kereopa, who also lived at Waokena, offered to be his companion. Their decision was made on 24 December 1846 at a hui of more than two thousand from many tribes of that area. In a deeply moving whaikörero, Te Mänihera spoke of the need for an indigenous missionary movement. Richard Taylor recorded that they were solemnly commended to the care of the Most High; all present appeared deeply affected by the scene.
Te Mänihera and Kereopa were advised by Enau, who was the brother of Te Herekiekie, the chief of that part of Taupö, to delay their journey to Taupö. Enau felt it would be safer when he had returned and could accompany them. Te Mänihera and Kereopa waited for some time, but eventually became impatient with Enau’s long absence, Taylor says they could not forget they were tapu, or devoted to the Lord.
On 6 February 1847 Te Mänihera and Kereopa left Wanganui. They travelled first to Porou-ta-whao, the residence of Te Rangihaeata, then over to the East Coast, and on to Rotorua where they spent several days with Thomas Chapman the CMS missionary. They then went to Motutere where they were again advised to change their destination. It was on this final part of the journey that Te Mänihera had a growing sense that he would not survive his mission. On the way he preached an impassioned sermon at Waiariki, and in the morning said he felt that his time was at hand, and that before the sun set he should be the inhabitant of another world.
The final stretch of their pilgrimage on 12 March took Te Mänihera and Kereopa to Tokaanu, the residence of Te Herekiekie and the tribe they were going to visit. They were accompanied by a group of young men from Waiariki as support. On hearing of the travellers’ approach, some of the home people recognised the classical obligations of utu, and a small party was sent out, led by an elderly chief named Te Huiatahi. They waited in ambush, and as soon as the two came within range they were shot. Kereopa fell dead, and Te Mänihera was wounded; he was blinded and did not die until sunset, praying for his adversaries and assuring his companions that all was light within. He died, having given his New Testament and his missionary journal to one of the young men who accompanied him.
The companions of Te Mänihera and Kereopa took the bodies to Waiariki and buried them with great solemnity near the pa. They wrote to Christian villages with the news and asked about what should be done. When Richard Taylor heard the news he likened the deaths of Te Mänihera and Kereopa to the death of Stephen. Taylor wrote advocating no further bloodshed. Eventually, at a meeting on 1 April, various letters were read, and a discussion was held as to what retaliation might vindicate their deaths. However, the tenor of the letters “all breathed a very Christian

spirit” and judgement was left with God. Wiremu Te Tauri (see 17 May), a Taupö chief and head mission teacher, was there and spoke on the gospel theme of life coming through death. The matter was finally left with Richard Taylor.

Through subsequent visits and discussions with Te Herekiekie’s people, peace was made with Ngäti Ruanui, and eventually another young chief from Waokena, Piripi, went to Tokaanu as a teacher. When Taylor arrived there with Piripi, a service involving people from Tokaanu was held at Te Manihera’s and Kereopa’s graves at Waiariki. When the party returned to the pa, Te 1-Iuiatahi,who had led the attack, proposed that a missionary should be sent to his place at Rotoaira and stationed at Poutu where Te Huiatahi would give land and erect a church and a mission house. At that time many people also came forward as candidates for baptism.
When the church was completed, Taylor was invited back and conducted thirty further baptisms, celebrated the Eucharist, and appointed Hemapo, the brother of Te Herekiekie, as teacher for the new church. Taylor completes his notes of the saga by saying that the later developments at Tokaanu were “the fruits of Manihera’s death”. Te Mänihera and Kereopa are remembered on 13 March, the day their tangi began. There is a memorial at Tokaanu, on which is written the following:

Hei Whakakoröria tënei ki te Atua hei whakamahara hoki

ki a Mänihera räua ko Kereopa ö Ngatiruanui

he karere na te Karaiti ki Taupö nei i whakamatea

i te 12 ö nga ra ö Maehe 1847 i tanumia ki Waiariki

“kïhai rätou i aroha kite ora mo rätou a mate noa” Whkt XII:11

To the Glory of God, and in memory of Mänihera and Kereopa of Ngati-ruanui, messengers of Christ here in Taupö died on the 12th day of March 1847, and buried at Te Waiariki. “They loved not their lives unto the death”. Revelation 12:11
Mänihera Tangi Whakamutunga

E hora te marino Everything is calm,

Horahia i waho ra, and beyond is still also.

E pa ki oma My thoughts run to home,

ko nga rere e teia as the waters run in this

Te awa ki Pakihi in this stream named Pakihi,

Ko tai o Marouru. to the coast at Marouru.

E kino koutou It is an evil thing for you that

Ki te noho tahi mai. my journey went only one way.
Ka toriki ki tawhiti Across the far distance

Ka nui au te aroha, I send my love,

Te pae ki Harata, back to where Harata dwells,

Naku ra ai huri atu. whom I left behind me.

Whakawehia au They tried to frighten me with

Kia wehi nui au, stories about the stings of the

i te taraongaonga. nettle so that I would be afraid.
Kei a koe ano ra Now you people have my body;

Te tinana i mau ai; but my spirit will return

Ka tae te wairua to my own people.

Ka hoki au ki te iwi,

For Liturgical Use

Te Manihera and Kereopa were martyred at Turangi in 1847. The story of their early missionary work in the Hawera area and their subsequent dedication to set out on a dangerous preaching mission has long been remembered. They died after being shot as they approached the village of a tribal enemy. No utu was sought, and later their former adversaries created a mission base where many became Christians. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.

Sentence

Ka mea a Ihu, “Ki te whai hoki tetahi kia ora, ka mate ia: otira ki te mate tetahi, mona i whakaaro ki ahau, ka ora ia”. Ruka 9:24

Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it; and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” Luke 9:24
Collects

E te Ariki, e Ihu

i mate a Kereopa raua ko Te Manihera i a raua e kawe ana i te Rongopai o te maungärongo ki te iwi Maori, pera hoki to matou kaha ki te kauwhau i to ingoa ki nga iwi katoa o Aotearoa, hei whakakororia i te Atua Matua. Amine.
Everloving God,

your servants Kereopa and Manihera laid down their lives to bring the gospel to the Maori people; may we make you known to all the peoples of Aotearoa, whatever the cost; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Prince of peace, you gave such great love to Kereopa and Manihera that they laid down their lives to bring your gospel to their neighbours; may your reconciling Spirit embrace today all the peoples in our land.
Psalms 94: 12-19 98
Readings

Isaiah 2:2-4 The ways of the Lord

Romans 5:1-5 Peace with God

Luke 9:23-26 Take up the cross

Post Communion Sentence

Ki ahau hoki ko te ora ko te Karaiti, ko te mate he taonga.

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April 30