Michael Rotohiko Jones

Michael Rotohiko Jones (14 September 1895 – 24 January 1978) was a New Zealand interpreter, land agent, sportsman, private secretary, public administrator and broadcaster.

Early life Rotohiko was born in Poro-o-Tarao, King Country, New Zealand, on 14 September 1895. Rotohiko's mother, Pare Te Kōrae was descended from the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. His father, David Lewis, was a Pākehā storekeeper at Poro-o-Tarāo of Jewish descent. Lewis did not return to New Zealand after the Second Boer War. Pare Te Kōrae remarried to David Jones, of Ngā Puhi, and both sons adopted their step-father's surname.

In 1928, the Sim Native Land Confiscation commission recommended that Tainui should be compensated for the land confiscations that followed the invasion of the Waikato in 1863. This initiated a long series of negotiations, in which Jones acted as a negotiator. In the 1961 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people. In the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, again for services to the Māori people.

Personal life Jones married Kahuwaero Hetet (died 1994) at Ongarue on 14 January 1920. They had four sons and three daughters, including Tūtahanga Jones. Jones died at Ōtorohanga on 24 January 1978. He is buried in the military section of the cemetery of Te Tokanganui-a-noho marae, Te Kuiti.