Rua Tapunui Kenana
| Rua Tapunui Kenana | |
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| Born | 1869 Maungapōhatu, Urewera Ranges, New Zealand |
| Died | 20 February 1937 Matahi, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand |
| Other names | Te Mihaia Hou The New Messiah Mihaia |
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Rua Tapunui Kenana (1869–1937) was a Māori prophet, faith healer and land rights activist. He called himself Te Mihaia Hou, the New Messiah, and claimed to be Te Kooti Arikirangi's successor Hepetipa (Hephzibah) who would reclaim Tūhoe land that had been lost to Pākehā ownership. Rua's beliefs split the Ringatū Church, which Te Kooti had founded in around 1866/1868. In 1907 Rua formed a non-violent religious community at Maungapōhatu, the sacred mountain of Ngāi Tūhoe, in the Urewera. By 1900, Maungapōhatu was one of the few areas that had not been investigated by the Native Land Court. The community, also known as New Jerusalem, included a farming co-operative and a savings bank. Many Pākehā believed the community was subversive and saw Rua as a disruptive influence.
In 1916 police mounted an armed expedition, arriving at Maungapōhatu on 2 April to arrest Rua for sedition. He was found not guilty on this charge but imprisoned for resisting arrest. Rua was released in April 1918 and returned to Maungapōhatu, the community was however in decline and by the early 1930s, most people had left to find work elsewhere. Rua moved on to Matahi in the eastern Bay of Plenty and lived there until his death in 1937.
In September 2017, the government committed to pardon him as part of a treaty settlement.
Rua was born in 1869 at Maungapōhatu in the Urewera Country New Zealand. He was the posthumous son of Kenana Tumoana, who was killed at Makaretu in November 1868 while fighting for Te Kooti, and of Ngahiwi Te Rihi. Rua was a member of the Tamakaimoana hapū of the Tūhoe tribe and, although not a chief in his own right, was of high birth and could trace his descent from Potiki and Toroa of the Mataatua canoe.
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