Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener Discretion advised. As Tifuera
Speaker 1: Fero watched his foe's retreat toward the muddy banks of
Speaker 1: the Waitara River, it all felt too easy. For nearly
Speaker 1: two years, the seasoned Maori warrior had led his vast
Speaker 1: army to push their tribal rivals down the west coast
Speaker 1: of what is now known as New Zealand's North Island.
Speaker 1: By late eighteen twenty one early eighteen twenty two, Tefuerafuero
Speaker 1: and his Waikato tribe allies had battled against the Ingati
Speaker 1: Tooa across forests, mountains, and swamps, with both sides suffering
Speaker 1: through hunger, pain and frequent casualties. So why now was
Speaker 1: his enemy retreating? I would Tifuero Fuero's savvy opposite number,
Speaker 1: Te Rappiah, simply back off once his party had reached
Speaker 1: the Taranaki region, because that's where their reinforcements were surely waiting.
Speaker 1: Between Tifuero Fuero's years of military experience and his lifetime
Speaker 1: of absorbing Maori lore and tribal connections, he knew there
Speaker 1: were plenty of hostile adversaries who would be more than
Speaker 1: happy to attack his allied forces as they progressed into
Speaker 1: the Taranaki territory, and so despite the retreat, Tifuero Fuero
Speaker 1: urged his army to halt, but many of his fellow
Speaker 1: leaders did not listen, instead ordering their men to charge.
Speaker 1: What followed was a brutal military disaster in which many
Speaker 1: of Tifuera Wero's side were slaughtered. Those who survived made
Speaker 1: a hasty retreat, but Tifuerafera refused to join them. As
Speaker 1: the stories go, he instead stayed by the side of
Speaker 1: a killed Waikato chief. There the allies of the enemy
Speaker 1: tribe found him. The fighters were tempted to shoot Tifuerafero
Speaker 1: on the spot, after all, he was the enemy leader
Speaker 1: he'd likely been responsible for the deaths of many of
Speaker 1: their relatives, But then the leader of the enemy group,
Speaker 1: te Raparaha, arrived.
Speaker 2: On the scene.
Speaker 1: No one dared get in the way of the prominent
Speaker 1: chief and warlord who had transformed his small tribe into
Speaker 1: one of the most powerful on New Zealand. Tee Raparaha
Speaker 1: himself had lost loved ones to his bloody years long
Speaker 1: feud with Tefuero Fuero, so it's hard to imagine him
Speaker 1: not being tempted by the chance to inflict fierce vengeance
Speaker 1: as he walked towards his nemesis. As for Tefuero Fuero,
Speaker 1: he was not one to go down without a fight.
Speaker 1: He was purportedly just as skilled with words as he
Speaker 1: was with weapons, which was a fortunate backup skill to have, because,
Speaker 1: according to several sources, the only weapon available to him
Speaker 1: at that moment was a digging implement. Despite being ridiculously
Speaker 1: outnumbered and out gunned, Tefuero Fuero grabbed the tool, and
Speaker 1: with his life, his tribe's fortunes, the power dynamics of
Speaker 1: the region, and even the fate of long term royal
Speaker 1: control of New Zealand all hanging in the balance. He
Speaker 1: wielded his small weapon with every last bit of gravitas
Speaker 1: he could gather as his enemy approached. I'm Dana Schwartz,
Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Trying to rule over the
Speaker 1: entirety of New Zealand was no easy feat, especially in
Speaker 1: Tifuerfuera's era, because there was no existing monarchical structure or
Speaker 1: overarching sense of national identity to paint an extremely broad
Speaker 1: strokes picture of New Zealand's early history. Its two largest islands,
Speaker 1: now simply called the North Island and South Island, were
Speaker 1: the last large habitable land masses on Earth to be
Speaker 1: reached by humans. According to both modern archaeological studies and
Speaker 1: generational Maori wisdom, Polynesians first traveled to the North Island
Speaker 1: by co new in approximately twelve fifty. Scientific analysis has
Speaker 1: shown that they used more sophisticated navigation methods than many
Speaker 1: historians initially acknowledged, and by about thirteen fifty, Polynesian settlers
Speaker 1: were migrating in more substantial numbers. Over time, as villages grew,
Speaker 1: they began forming a distinct Maori culture. It wasn't until
Speaker 1: the seventeenth century that European sailors visited the grouping of
Speaker 1: over six hundred islands. Then it took almost two hundred
Speaker 1: more years for friction between colonists and Maori tribes to
Speaker 1: fuel a brutal period of political turmoil, land grabs, and
Speaker 1: forced assimilation, all of which I will circle back to later.
Speaker 1: For now, the key hierarchies to know about that existed
Speaker 1: on the North and South Islands when Tefuera Fwara was
Speaker 1: born around seventeen seventy were the complex Maori systems of
Speaker 1: iwi or tribes, hapu subtribes, and rangitiri or chiefs. A
Speaker 1: rangatira's power was often, but not always hereditary. In Tifuero
Speaker 1: Fuero's case, it certainly was, since his father was a
Speaker 1: chief and his mother the daughter of another chief within
Speaker 1: the large Waikato tribe. This afforded him ample clout and
Speaker 1: opportunity from birth. Tifuera Pharo also initially benefited from growing
Speaker 1: up in a period of relative peace, since that allowed
Speaker 1: him plenty of time to gain valuable knowledge and experience.
Speaker 1: Under the supervision of his renowned warrior father, Tifuerafwara reportedly
Speaker 1: honed his fighting skills, studied military strategy, and absorbed traditional
Speaker 1: Maori lore. Then he continued to learn genealogy, sacred rituals,
Speaker 1: and arcane wisdom at an exclusive Maori institution of higher
Speaker 1: learning where elders instructed a select few pupils, mostly sons
Speaker 1: of chiefs. This all helped enhance Tefuera Fuera's mana, a
Speaker 1: crucial element for a Maori leader. The concept of mana
Speaker 1: is extremely complex and profound within Maori culture, and therefore
Speaker 1: difficult for me to succinctly encapsulate that said it often
Speaker 1: translated and understood as an intangible force that gives a
Speaker 1: person or entity prestige, authority.
Speaker 2: Or power.
Speaker 1: As will explore more soon, mana was key to Tefuera
Speaker 1: Fuera's life and unprecedented assent as a leader. The peaceful
Speaker 1: period could only last so long for his Waikato tribe,
Speaker 1: and Tifuera Fuero soon needed all the mana he could
Speaker 1: get to survive the coming musket Wars. The Musket Wars
Speaker 1: were actually a series of thousands of battles among Maori
Speaker 1: tribes spanning eighteen o seven to eighteen forty five.
Speaker 2: These violent conflicts were.
Speaker 1: Later grouped together by scholars due to how they were
Speaker 1: markedly influenced by the introduction of you guessed it, the musket.
Speaker 1: As European settlers brought and traded guns, it essentially sparked
Speaker 1: a Maori arms race among tribes and subtribes. Although the Europeans,
Speaker 1: the majority of them British, supplied the firepower, they were
Speaker 1: initially vastly outnumbered and supposedly mostly focused on trading, wailing,
Speaker 1: and proselytizing as Protestant Christian missionaries. This meant that In
Speaker 1: his warrior prime, Tifuero Fuera's biggest foes were other tribes.
Speaker 1: He went on numerous military campaigns, the most dramatic being
Speaker 1: his war against the Ngati Toa Ewi.
Speaker 2: Because in this.
Speaker 1: Rival tribe, Tifuero Fuero met an equally formidable adversary, a
Speaker 1: mighty chief by the name of Tea Paraha. According to
Speaker 1: many sources, tensions particularly ratched it up when members of
Speaker 1: the Ningteta killed a relative of Tifuero Fuera's. This prompted
Speaker 1: him to spearhead a series of revenge missions, which included
Speaker 1: allegedly overseeing the murder of one of te Roparaha's wives
Speaker 1: when she visited Waikato territory in eighteen twenty. This sparked
Speaker 1: a bitter feud over territory resources and purported hostile transgressions.
Speaker 1: While Tifuera Fero's father continued to lead the larger Waikato tribe,
Speaker 1: Tifuera Faro led a coalition army of warriors from Waikato
Speaker 1: and another Ewe against the Gata Toa and their chief, Teaparaja.
Speaker 1: Tifuera Fuero's side won decisive victories, attacking by land and sea,
Speaker 1: and eventually surrounding the Ngaatee Toa near Kafia Harbor on
Speaker 1: the North Island's west coast. Tifuera Fuero and his legion
Speaker 1: of warriors seemingly had a perfect chance to annihilate their opposition,
Speaker 1: and yet they didn't. The reasoning behind this apparently perplexed
Speaker 1: some scholars, especially those predominantly accustomed to studying European monarchies.
Speaker 1: One likely explanation proposed by experts on Maori culture is
Speaker 1: that Tefuero Fero showed restraint due to deeper dimensions within
Speaker 1: his tribe's structure. Namely, while his larger waikato Ewi was
Speaker 1: at war with te Roparaja's gate Toa Ewei, there were
Speaker 1: still numerous critical links between many of the involved fighter's subtribes.
Speaker 1: The specific names of these connected subtribes were seemingly not
Speaker 1: well documented or commemorated, but multiple accounts claimed that the
Speaker 1: majority of the senior members in Tifuera Pharo's army were
Speaker 1: against executing te Roparaha. Ultimately, Tefuera Faro listened to his
Speaker 1: people and negotiated for his tribe to take control of
Speaker 1: Ngatitoa territory, and he banished his foes to the Taranaki region,
Speaker 1: to the south of his enlarged Wakato domain. Subsequently, Tifuerafaro
Speaker 1: led his army into Taranaki, possibly to keep pushing tey
Speaker 1: Roparaja south, although it appears probable that his most pressing
Speaker 1: goal was to rescue an allied war party that was
Speaker 1: under siege nearby. This is where things took a drastic turn.
Speaker 1: Tifuera Faro supposedly had the foresight to realize tey Roparaha
Speaker 1: was planning the fake retreat, but when his fellow Waikato
Speaker 1: warriors and chiefs disregarded his warnings and attacked anyway, he
Speaker 1: had little choice but to support them.
Speaker 2: The legends and.
Speaker 1: History books are murky about the exact identity of the
Speaker 1: slain Waikato chief with whom Tifuera Faro stayed while his
Speaker 1: enemies closed in, But according to the many, probably embellished
Speaker 1: accounts of that faithful day, his loyalty to his allies
Speaker 1: and love for his fellow leader could not have been clearer.
Speaker 1: The real question was how far any related benevolence stretched
Speaker 1: among his enemies, namely, what mercy was within the heart.
Speaker 2: Of te Roparaha.
Speaker 1: Fortunately for te Fuera Fuero, his chief adversary arrived and
Speaker 1: ultimately decided to stay his execution once again. The question
Speaker 1: of why has intrigued historians and writers. The simplest explanation
Speaker 1: is that tey Roparaha felt compelled to repay his debt
Speaker 1: since Tifuerafuero had previously spared his life. As we've touched upon,
Speaker 1: the more complex answer involves several other notable factors, including
Speaker 1: territory negotiations and underlying relationships between subtribes. Importantly underpinning all
Speaker 1: of this was the fascinating and foundational concept of mana.
Speaker 1: As previously mentioned, mana denoted the authority and prestige of
Speaker 1: a person. It bestowed respect. It was the essence of
Speaker 1: someone's aura. But mana went beyond that. Mawari society had
Speaker 1: no specific word or concept of religion in the same
Speaker 1: sense that many European cultures at the time did. As
Speaker 1: certain researchers and anthropologists have pointed out, supernatural and natural
Speaker 1: were inextricably linked and intertwined throughout the fabric of Maori
Speaker 1: daily tribal life, all through mana. Mana was inherited at birth,
Speaker 1: but also constantly fluctuated over one's life. Lifetime Maori could
Speaker 1: increase their mana through courageous acts such as fighting heroically
Speaker 1: in battle, while their mona might decrease if they suffered
Speaker 1: distinct embarrassments, such as allowing themselves to be shamefully tricked.
Speaker 1: On occasion, mana could be sneakily stolen, or even stem
Speaker 1: from brash humor. In a nineteen ninety issue of New
Speaker 1: Zealand Geographic, a journalist and student of Maori culture and
Speaker 1: customs named Chris Winitana recounted this amusing story about his
Speaker 1: ancestor from roughly three hundred years ago, who was famously
Speaker 1: skilled with a type of long staff weapon.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: One day he was caught alone near the Starlake by
Speaker 1: a battalion of soldiers out to settle a score. Outnumbered
Speaker 1: four hundred to one. He had a choice to make
Speaker 1: I run or simply see who had the most mana.
Speaker 1: Deciding on the latter, he calmly lifted his war apron,
Speaker 1: exposed himself and urinated in front of the enemy. Satisfied
Speaker 1: that he had made the right impact, he yelled out
Speaker 1: to them, you have now seen my long staff. Do
Speaker 1: not come forth, for its mana will kill you. Nonchalantly,
Speaker 1: he turned around broke wind and walked away fearing the
Speaker 1: double edged threat of his mana. Not one of the
Speaker 1: four hundred was gained to have a go end quote, power, prestige.
Speaker 2: Pissing contests.
Speaker 1: All were laced with mana, and above all, mana was
Speaker 1: deeply rooted in family a Maori persons, mana went all
Speaker 1: the way back to their ancestors and to the attua,
Speaker 1: their ancestral deities and potent keepers of knowledge who helped
Speaker 1: to link people to the natural world. Crucially, Tifuero Fuero's
Speaker 1: and Teo Paraha's respective mana were believed to flow all
Speaker 1: the way from the revered captains of the two legendary
Speaker 1: Polynesian canoes that first landed on the shores of the
Speaker 1: North Island. So these leaders crossing paths as influential chiefs
Speaker 1: in their own rights was something of a full circle
Speaker 1: moment in terms of New Zealand Maori and hereditary history.
Speaker 1: Tifuerofwero would have undoubtedly known this thanks to his schooling
Speaker 1: and genealogical wisdom. Accordingly, he was reportedly an eloquent orator,
Speaker 1: and so he surely made his case well when faced
Speaker 1: with his rival chieftain and the threat of execution and
Speaker 1: what he couldn't get across in words, he backed up
Speaker 1: with his actions because tay Roparaha did not let Tefuero
Speaker 1: Fuero off easy. As the stories go, Tefuero Faro first
Speaker 1: had to face numerous well armed chiefs in single combat
Speaker 1: with only the simple digging tool.
Speaker 2: He had to defend himself.
Speaker 1: Unlike the hem long staff master who boldly peered and
Speaker 1: farted to intimidate his foes, Tifuero Fuero had to actually
Speaker 1: fight for his life since his opponents apparently were all
Speaker 1: game to have a go. But he conducted himself valiantly,
Speaker 1: and in the end, the combination of Tefuero Fuero's heritage,
Speaker 1: past deeds, charisma and raw power all ostensibly persuaded te
Speaker 1: Roparajas to negotiate for his release when a number of
Speaker 1: Waikato allies returned put simply to Fuero Fuero had too
Speaker 1: much manna to deny.
Speaker 2: It's worth noting.
Speaker 1: That scholarship today largely relies on both European historical texts
Speaker 1: and Maori oral traditions. Understandably, these sources often offer decidedly
Speaker 1: different perspectives. For a long period, Maori oral traditions were
Speaker 1: disregarded by many colonial scholars. These dismissals purportedly went hand
Speaker 1: in hand with the sort of Eurocentric vision for New
Speaker 1: Zealand that was used to directly and indirectly justify attempts
Speaker 1: throughout the nineteenth century to separate Maori from their lands
Speaker 1: and force them to culturally assimilate. However, later analysis by
Speaker 1: a range of both Maori historians and non native researchers
Speaker 1: frequently showed that, while sometimes embellished, these oral histories were
Speaker 1: just as accurate, if not more so, than many European
Speaker 1: settlers written documentations, and if anything, the passed down legends
Speaker 1: give us the best context and insight regarding many significant
Speaker 1: and densely interconnected Maori tribal events, such as Tefuero Fuero
Speaker 1: and te Rapuraja's epic rivalry. Tefuero Whero's legacy kept growing
Speaker 1: through the Musket Wars. In terms of hierarchy, Tifuera Fero
Speaker 1: took command of the overall Waikato Iwi when his father
Speaker 1: died in about eighteen thirty. He then continued to increase
Speaker 1: Waikato territory throughout the central parts of the North Island,
Speaker 1: ultimately helping to make them one of the most powerful
Speaker 1: and prosperous tribes in all of New Zealand, Tiferafwaro eventually
Speaker 1: even saw value in negotiating for peace with the ingato Toa.
Speaker 1: According to some chroniclers, it was quite mutually beneficial for
Speaker 1: these prominent tribes to work together as their interests further
Speaker 1: aligned due to the encroachment of common enemies and their
Speaker 1: increasing need to deal with foreign governments and monarchs. Some
Speaker 1: scholars have additionally posited that Tefuera Fero's peacemaking was a
Speaker 1: result of his increased interest in British missionaries, Christian teaching
Speaker 1: and values. All that said, Tefuerafhero by no means became
Speaker 1: a universally beloved individual or an entirely magnanimous figurehead. After all,
Speaker 1: he'd still committed and instigated plenty.
Speaker 2: Of war and murder.
Speaker 1: But as a warrior, rankedira and spiritual leader, Tiferafwaro was
Speaker 1: seemingly always able to garner some level of respect even
Speaker 1: from his opponents, and in many ways, the image of
Speaker 1: Tifuera Faro loyally standing guard besides a fallen ally brandishing
Speaker 1: a digging implement while attackers encircled him was symbolic of
Speaker 1: both his persona and of dramatic events to come. Because
Speaker 1: as colonists increasingly ventured from Europe to New Zealand, the
Speaker 1: dark storm clouds of a Maori versus British war began
Speaker 1: gathering on the horizon. Tifuera Fuero would soon find himself
Speaker 1: caught in the middle, as he was ultimately presented with
Speaker 1: the staggering opportunity to become the first ever monarch in
Speaker 1: Maori history. That's part one of the story of Tifuera
Speaker 1: Fera's unique rise to royalty. But stick around after a
Speaker 1: brief sponsor break to learn a fascinating piece of his
Speaker 1: rival turn comrades spiritual legacy. For anyone who has watched
Speaker 1: New Zealand's vaunted international rugby team, the All Blacks prepare
Speaker 1: for a match in recent decades, the sight and sound
Speaker 1: of their forceful hakka or ceremonial challenge is incredibly iconic. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: the hakka most commonly performed by the All Blacks and
Speaker 1: many other New Zealand sports teams is kat Mate, which
Speaker 1: was composed by none other than Tefuero Fuero's one time
Speaker 1: bitter rival, te Rapuraha. Maori oral histories credit the famed
Speaker 1: in gattutoa chief with creating the hakka in eighteen twenty,
Speaker 1: after evading some of his Waikato enemies in the Musket Wars,
Speaker 1: the chief reportedly had to hide in a sweet potato
Speaker 1: storage pit with the help of a female farmer. When
Speaker 1: he safely emerged into the sunlight, he was so elated
Speaker 1: and thankful that he composed the chant as a celebration
Speaker 1: of life over death and as an ode to the
Speaker 1: spiritual power of the woman who stood guard and helped
Speaker 1: save his life. Not only did New Zealand's sporting traditions
Speaker 1: benefit from the chief surviving, Tefuera Wharo eventually would as well,
Speaker 1: because the rival chief's lineage would greatly impact Tefuera Fero's
Speaker 1: eventual candidacy to become the first King of New Zealand.
Speaker 1: But listen to next week's episode to find.
Speaker 2: Out about that.
Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me
Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah's Wick,
Speaker 1: Paul Jaffey, Natasha and me Danish Wortz. The show is
Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk and Nomes Griffin, with
Speaker 1: supervising producer rima Il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke,
Speaker 1: Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.