“Mr Tuhuru Tainui, one of the best-known personalities on the West Coast and an elder of the Māori people of Arahura, died last January in Christchurch Hospital. He was aged 67. He is a descendant of the paramount Chief Tuhuru of the Ngaitahu tribe. At the age of 17 he went overseas in the first world war, and served in France, Germany and Gallipoli. Until four years ago he was chairman of the Arahura tribal Committee. Mr Tainui is survived by his wife, six sons and three daughters.”
Biographical sources
- "Haere Ki O Koutou Tipuna." Te Ao Hou 50 (1965): 64.
Non-fiction
- Kai Konohi. [Hokitika], N.Z.: W. E. Richards & Son, [1960].
- In his Foreword Tainui writes "[m]y noble ancestors did not write. They handed down their knowledge through their carvings, haka and action songs - from father to son. I have compiled this booklet from information received in this way.’ In this slim publication Tainui provides a broad overview of the Māori migrations to New Zealand and particularly examines settlement and early land transactions between the children of Chief Tuhuru and the European settlers. Tainui discusses burial sites, Māori claims to Greymouth, and writes an account of the legend of Poutini who fled from her home at Tuhua Island in the Bay of Plenty with greenstone and eventually deposited it in the Arahura River on the West Coast where it was named Kai Konohi - food for the eyes.
Other
- "Haere Ki O Koutou Tipuna." Te Ao Hou 50 (1965): 64.