Teka Titonui

The Tu Tangata editorial notes state: “Teka Titonui is Professor of World History at the University of Waipapakauri, and he is the author of such widely read books as The Gumdiggers (a history of dentistry in Yugoslavia), The Spanish Armada: a Ngāti Kahu Perspective, and The Comanche - Te Rarawa Non-Aggression Pact of 1874. His original and often controversial views have aroused international interest and he once appeared on See Here. As well as history, his interests include Soviet marine biology and the textile manufacturing industry, and he is an acknowledged expert on red herrings and yarn-spinning. Professor Titonui lives on a small stud farm near Awanui, where his experiments in agricultural diversification have led to the development of New Zealand’s first bull manure processing plant.” In these Tu Tangata articles, Teka Titonui “examines some of the great events, characters and discoveries of world history, and relates how the Māori element has been forgotten or suppressed.” Teka Titonui is pseudonym for Graham Wiremu who edited Te Kaea in the 1980s.

Biographical sources

  • Titonui, Teka. "The Māori Impact On World History: 1. The Four Wise Men." Tu Tangata 20 (1984): 45.
  • Titonui, Teka. "Custer’s Second-to-Last Stand." Tu Tangata 21 (1984/85): 24.

    Papers/Presentations

  • "The Māori Impact On World History: 1. The Four Wise Men." Tu Tangata 20 (Oct./Nov. 1984): 45.
  • Titonui presents a theory of a fourth wise man in the Nativity story who was of Ngapuhi descent, and after seeing the star followed it across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea arriving in Bethlehem where he was promptly arrested.
  • "Custer’s Second-to-Last Stand." Tu Tangata 21 (Dec. 1984/Jan. 1985): 24.
  • The second article in Titonui’s perspective on world history, presents a story of General Custer visiting New Zealand with Gustavus von Tempsky and joining in the attack on Titokowaru’s pa in August 1868 which ended in great defeat for Tempsky and Custer.
  • "The Venus de Milo." Tu Tangata 22 (Feb./Mar. 1985): 19.
  • Titonui reports on the startling new discovery of the missing arms of the Venus de Milo and notes that ‘her hands are twirling poi - conclusive proof that intrepid Māori voyagers had penetrated the Mediterranean over two millennia ago.’
  • "The New Italian Renaissance and Tuwharetoa." Tu Tangata 23 (Apr./May 1985): 22.
  • Another tale of history in the making, with Professor Titonui writing of a joint venture in pasta making between Italian hydro works tunnellers and Tuwharetoa.
  • "A Genius Ahead Of His Time." Tu Tangata 24 (June/July 1985): 29.
  • Titonui presents a case stating that the ‘recent discovery of a battered and mussel-encrusted radio, dredged up by a trawler in the Bay of Plenty’ supports his theory that ‘in the seventeenth century a Māori on White Island invented the transistor radio.’ Titonui reflects sadly that when the inventor played his radio to the gathered tribe only a ‘crackling and whistling’ resulted which was due solely to the fact that at that time there were no radio stations in the country.
  • "One Night in Paekok." Tu Tangata 25 (Aug./Sept. 1985): 17.
  • Titonui writes about plagiarism in the music world and how former Māori songs have been ‘stolen by unscrupulous musicians and Hollywood producers.’
  • "Moon Story." Tu Tangata 26 (Oct./Nov. 1985): 31.
  • Titonui disputes that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon and cites instead that it was Tane. He also asserts that the huge craters discovered on the surface of the moon are simply hangi pits and that the ‘whole surface of the moon bears witness to what must once have been a flourishing Māori population.’
  • "The Cowboy Connection." Tu Tangata 27 (Dec. 1985/Jan. 1986): 3.
  • Titonui presents his hypothesis on the various links between Ngāti Porou and the United States of America and South America.
  • "Bureaucracy v Mythology." Tu Tangata 31 (Aug./Sept. 1986): 52.
  • Professor Titonui contemplates on the immigration regulations placed on tourists and returning New Zealanders when they enter New Zealand and ponders on how different New Zealand’s history might have been if the Pakeha had arrived first. Maui’s fishing would have contravened New Zealand territorial fishing laws, Ngatoroirangi would have earned the displeasure of National Park Rangers by lighting a fire on Mount Tongariro, and sacred soil from Hawaiki would never have passed the stringent regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
  • "How My Uncle Singehandedly Turned The Tide Of History." Tu Tangata 32 (Oct./Nov. 1986): 42.
  • Titonui recounts how his Uncle Herewini, who fought with the A Company of the 28th Māori Battalion in Greece and Crete, was captured and unexpectedly called to a meeting with Hitler who had been intrigued by Edward Tregear’s book The Aryan Māori and was looking for ‘a new ally in the Asia-Pacific region.’