Rangi Hauiti Pokiha

Rangi Pokiha was born at Koriniti, a direct descendant of Turi who captained the Aotea canoe, and the chief of the Ngāti Pamoana of Koriniti. He was connected, through his mother, to the Nga Rauru of Kai Iwi. As a child he was selected to be educated in the Whare Wananga under the tutelage of Tamati Te Hua Katene and Paamu Tinirau. He attended Pamoana Native School which later became Koriniti School, went on to Hikurangi Boys’ College from 1909-1911 and continued his studies at Te Aute College. He left school in 1913 and worked as a surveyor in Wanganui. He married Kaewa Metekingi and in 1917 joined the 26th Reinforcements of the Māori Pioneer Battalion on which he served as a Lance Corporal. He returned to Koriniti in 1919 and studied law briefly under Mr Slipper of Wanganui. He worked for the Ministry of Works Camp and surveyed the River Road. He joined the Whanganui Historical Society when it was first founded in 1969 and in 1971 was elected vice president of the Society and was made a life member in 1975. He was affiliated to both the Ringatu and Anglican churches. He asked for Ringatu to be upheld at Koriniti in the mid 1970s and started the monthly Ras. He was an Anglican church warden at Pepara Church in Koriniti and took services. In the 1970s he hosted groups from the Youth Aid Division of the New Zealand Police Department when they held their refresher courses at Koriniti Marae. Pokiha was a gifted sportsman and won many sports trophies. He played rugby to an advanced age and was known as "Rangi Fox" because of his great agility on the rugby field. He administered rugby for Wainui-a-Rua and played competitive tennis. He was a member of the RSA and attended the Te Hokowhitu A Tu reunions. In his obituary Pokiha was acknowledged "as the greatest authority on the Whanganui River and its people... and at the time of his death was nationally recognised as the foremost authority on the genealogy, lore, legends and history of the river." He accompanied Iriaka Ratana down to Government House when she was inducted into Parliament. Pokiha was bilingual and was an eloquent speaker and writer in both Māori and English. He wrote non-fiction work particularly concerning the Whanganui River district and Koriniti Pa. On his 70th birthday he wrote "Reminiscences". Over the course of many years he wrote a handwritten book of whakapapa, and recorded the writings from Te Kooti and other elders from the River. He assisted in the writing of The Wanganui Story by Max Smart and Arthur Bates. Other writing by Pokiha remains unpublished. He was an inspirational orator on the marae and wrote many speeches including one delivered at Moutoa Gardens on Waitangi Day. He also delivered major addresses at Victoria and Massey Universities. He recorded waiata anga moteatea for Victoria University as well as traditional waiata and his own material for Radio New Zealand Archives.

Biographical sources

• Correspondence, interview and phone call with Lois Gilbert, March 1998, 5 and 9 April 1998, 19 and 22 May 1998, and 12 August 2004.
• Historical Record: Journal of the Whanganui Historical Society Inc. and the Whanganui Branch of the New Zealand Founder’s Society Inc. 2.1 (1971). No further details.
• "Obituary: Rangi Hauiti Pokiha." Te Māori Apr./May [1980]: 38.