Wi Pere
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The Honourable Wi Pere MP |
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| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Eastern Maori |
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In office 1884 – 1887 |
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| Preceded by | Henare Tomoana |
| Succeeded by | James Carroll |
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In office 1893 – 1905 |
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| Preceded by | James Carroll |
| Succeeded by | Sir Āpirana Ngata |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 March 1837 Poverty Bay, Gisborne, New Zealand |
| Died | 9 December 1915 (aged 78) Gisborne, New Zealand |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Arapera Matenga Toti (married 1856) |
Wiremu "Wi" Pere (7 March 1837 – 9 December 1915), was a Māori Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Pere himself was an outstanding figure amongst the Poverty Bay and East Cape Māori, and one of Poverty Bay's most illustrious sons.
Wi Pere was born in Turanga-nui-a-Kiwa ("The place where 'Kiwa' - of the Tākitimu waka - stood"), now called Gisborne. He gained a wide knowledge of Māori traditions and customs, and proved an able spokesman in proceedings before the Native Land Court, was an outstanding orator in the use of the Māori language within the House of Representatives.
Pere served for some years in both branches of the Legislature, fighting for the rights of his Maori people, particularly in Land legislation. Even in boyhood, he was noted for his shrewdness. As a youth Wi Pere was selected by the elders as a young man of special intelligence and was carefully taught and trained in Māori history and genealogy, which information was handed down through the generations by word of mouth. He described the influence of his mother as follows: "My mother was a woman of great mana over the whole of the district; her name was Riria Mauaranui, a chieftainess of great influence of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Rongowhakaata tribe".
He won the Eastern Maori seat in parliament in the 1884 election, as the fourth representative for the electorate, and attracted much attention. But he lost the seat to James Carroll in 1887 and in 1890.
However, in 1893 Carroll stood down in order to contest the Gisborne (European) seat. Pere won Eastern Maori back, and from 1893 supported the Liberal Party. In 1905 though Pere lost the Eastern Maori seat to Āpirana Ngata.
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