King Potatau : An Account of the Life of Potatau Te Wherowhero the First Maori King

A 2025 reprint of the 2010 edition

This book details the background to the Kingitanga and also tells the story of the first king, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. It details all the momentous events of Te Wherowhero's life from around 1775 to his death in 1860, including his status as Lord of the Waikato and the famous battles and conflicts with other tribes, his raising up as the First Māori King, and Mana Motuhake, the Māori Kingship, set apart as the symbol of the spiritual and cultural life of the Māori. Pei Te Hurinui's biography of King Pōtatau tells this story in a Māori voice employing waiata, poetry and whakapapa as well as prose text in English and English translations so that the book is accessible to both Maori language speakers and those with no knowledge of Māori.