Henare Uru

Henare Whakatau Uru (1872 – 7 March 1929) was a New Zealand politician. He was the Reform Party Member of Parliament for Southern Maori from 1922 to 1928.

Early life and family Uru was born at Kaiapoi in 1872. His father was Hoani Uru, a farmer, and his mother was Kataraina Kaiparoa. A member of the Ngāi Tūāhuriri hapū (sub-tribe) of Ngāi Tahu, Uru was educated at Rangiora High School.

He married Ruita Te Aika in 1891, but the couple divorced in 1896. Uru subsequently married Gladys Constance Mary Rogers in 1915. Their daughter, Tui Uru, was the first Māori presenter on New Zealand television.

Uru was known as a sportsman in his teens and 20s, playing rugby union for the Kaiapoi Football Club, and being involved in athletics, wrestling and tennis. He was also a noted cyclist.

A member of the North Canterbury Mounted Rifle Volunteers, Uru attended the opening of the Australian federal parliament in 1901.

Uru's main parliamentary contribution was the progression of Ngāi Tahu issues, leading to the formation of the Ngaitahu Trust Board in 1929. He was also a member of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research. He died in Wellington in 1929 and was buried at Tuahiwi, near Kaiapoi.