Kereopa Te Rau

Kereopa Te Rau (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of Pai Mārire (Hauhau), a Māori religion. He played a key role in the Volkner Incident and was subsequently hanged for his part in it.

Early life Little is known of Kereopa's early life but he was of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi iwi (tribe) of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. He was baptised by the Catholic missionary Father Euloge Reignier in the 1840s and was given the Christian name of Kereopa, the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name Cleopas. He may have served as a police officer in Auckland during the 1850s. He is known to have fought for the King Movement during the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863. His wife and two daughters are believed to have been killed in an attack mounted on 21 February 1864 by government forces on the village of Rangiaowhia near Te Awamutu in 1864. His sister was killed in defence of nearby Hairini the next day.

Pai Mārire Shortly afterwards Kereopa met up with the prophet Te Ua Haumēne and converted to the Pai Mārire faith. In December 1864 he was sent on a mission to the tribes of the East Coast. His instructions were to go in peace and avoid confrontations with the Pākehā. in what became known as the Volkner Incident. Immediately afterwards Kereopa preached a sermon from Volkner's pulpit during which he gouged the missionary's eyes out of his head and ate them.

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