Orange, Claudia and Wilson, Ormond. "Taiwhanga, Rawiri fl. 1818-1874." Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Vol. 1: 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990. 417-418.

"A letter from the Chief Taiwanga to the Rev. John Noble Coleman in England." A Memoir of the Rev. Richard Davis: For Thirty-Nine Years A Missionary In New Zealand. Rev. John Noble Coleman. London, UK: James Nisbet, 1865. 448-449. In Māori with English translation. English translation rpt. in Māori Is My Name: Historical Writings in Translation. Ed. John Caselberg. Dunedin, N.Z.: John McIndoe, 1975. 37.
John Coleman states in A Memoir of the Rev. Richard Davis that this letter dated Oct 23, 1826 was ‘the first Letter ever written to England by A Native of New Zealand.’ In this letter Taiwanga writes that his ‘evil works are all done with’ and that it is a good thing ‘to believe in God, to cast away..bad deeds, and to turn to Him.’ Taiwanga states he would have liked to send Coleman some mats but Davis countered that this could be done later. Taiwanga however shared his own need for some clothes for the sacred day and that ‘two thick blankets would be very acceptable’ to him for his bed.

Taiwanga