Riperata Kahutia

Riperata Kahutia (c. 1838/1839 – 10 June 1887) was a Māori rangatira, landowner and political leader of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Rongowhakaata through her hapū, Te Whānau-a-Iwi and Ngāi Tāwhiri. During the second half of the nineteenth century she emerged as one of the foremost Māori leaders of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, exercising considerable political influence through her defence of customary land rights, leadership in the Native Land Court, and stewardship of tribal affairs during the rapid expansion of colonial settlement.

Although remembered principally for her extensive involvement in Native Land Court proceedings, Kahutia's leadership extended beyond litigation. She inherited the political responsibilities of her father Kahutia, became one of the largest Māori landowners in Poverty Bay, directed the management and leasing of tribal estates, helped establish Te Poho-o-Materoa at Awapuni, and exercised customary authority over both Māori and European communities. She is regarded as one of the most significant Māori women leaders of nineteenth-century Tūranganui-a-Kiwa.

Early life Kahutia was born at either Makauri or Taruheru, near present-day Gisborne, probably in 1838 or 1839.

Raised within one of the district's foremost chiefly households, she inherited extensive customary land interests together with the political responsibilities associated with rangatiratanga. According to Shelley Nikora, her upbringing combined traditional chiefly education with literacy and familiarity with European institutions, preparing her to exercise leadership during a period of profound political and social change.

She married Mīkaere Tūrangi, son of the Rongowhakaata chief Paratene Tūrangi (Pōtoti), one of the Tūranga signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi. Their marriage strengthened relationships between prominent chiefly families in the district. They had three children, including Heni Materoa, later Lady Carroll through her marriage to Sir James Carroll.

The Kaiti title was first lodged before the Native Land Court in 1868, although proceedings were delayed because of a defect in the survey. The claim returned to the Court in 1870 and was first substantively investigated in November 1873, when Kahutia first appeared before the Native Land Court in November 1873, claiming the western portion of Kaiti on behalf of Te Whānau-a-Iwi through ancestry, conquest and continuous occupation. She maintained that the land extending from Otipi to the Waimata River had remained under the customary authority of her ancestors from the time of Kuriwahanui and Te Māanga to her own generation.

The investigation became a contest between Kahutia and a party led by Rutene Te Eke and Hirini Te Kani. Both sides accepted their shared descent from Kahunoke and Te Nonoi-i-Kura but disagreed fundamentally over the historical consequences of warfare, occupation and customary boundaries for ownership of the block.

During the rehearing Kahutia gave extensive evidence concerning the whakapapa, occupation and customary history of Kaiti. She maintained that although her ancestors had at times been displaced by conflict, they had subsequently returned to Kaiti, reaffirmed the customary boundaries established by Kuriwahanui, resumed occupation, maintained cultivations, burial grounds and rāhui, and continued to exercise authority through activities such as the establishment of the Papawhariki and Waikahua whaling stations by her father, Kahutia.

She rejected arguments that her family's customary interests had been extinguished by conquest, arguing instead that they had been reaffirmed through renewed occupation. Although she acknowledged whakapapa connections throughout the block, she deliberately confined her claim to the western portion in accordance with the traditional boundaries recognised by her ancestors. During cross-examination she further testified that her father had established rāhui over Kaiti, received rents from the Papawhariki whaling station, and commenced Native Land Court proceedings after being excluded from leasing arrangements negotiated by Rutene Te Eke and his associates.

The Court ultimately confirmed the competing customary interests of both parties. Kahutia and her people were awarded approximately one-third of Kaiti, including the western portion adjoining the Turanganui River and harbour, while the remaining two-thirds were awarded to the descendants of Hirini Te Kani. The lands recognised in Kahutia's award included the area surrounding present-day Tītirangi, Te Toka-a-Taiao and part of the Gisborne harbour.

Community leadership

Kahutia's influence extended beyond land matters into the social, cultural and economic life of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. In addition to her leadership in the Native Land Court, she acted as an adviser, trustee and kaiwhakahaere for numerous Māori communities. Nikora argues that her rangatiratanga reflected a broad conception of leadership encompassing the stewardship of tribal resources, hospitality, the preservation of whakapapa and tribal knowledge, and the welfare of her people.

She was buried, in accordance with her own wishes, on family land beside the Taruheru River among her relatives. Contemporary reports noted that her coffin, decorated internally with artificial flowers and fitted with a glass viewing panel, was placed within a brick vault incorporating a second glass panel so that it could be viewed after burial.

In 1906, Hēni Materoa commissioned a memorial over her mother's grave at Te Kurī-a-Tūātai. The unveiling ceremony was conducted by the Reverend F. W. Chatterton and attended by Māori and Pākehā dignitaries, including Mayor William Townley and Colonel Thomas Porter. The monument bore the inscription:

The accompanying English translation described Kahutia as "a woman greatly beloved in her lifetime", "one of noble thoughts", and "a staunch adherent of the Queen".

Legacy

Riperata Kahutia is regarded as one of the foremost Māori women leaders of nineteenth-century New Zealand. Her leadership coincided with the transformation of Māori society following the New Zealand Wars and the establishment of the Native Land Court. Through a combination of customary authority, legal expertise and political pragmatism, she preserved substantial tribal landholdings and helped shape the development of modern Tūranganui-a-Kiwa.