Tawhiao Cartoon (Large Drawing #22)

Ko Tāwhiao (Tukaroto Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao) nō te iwi o Waikato, arā o Ngāti Māhuta, te kīngi tuarua. He kīngi ia i te wā heihei i raupatuhia ai te whenua e te kāwanatanga koroniara e whakatare ana ki te tāmoe i te Kīngitanga. I taua wā ka tū mārō a Tāwhiao hei kaiwhakamārie, ā, ki ētahi he matakite ia.

Kitea ai te mana o Tāwhiao i roto i te tānga ā-penerākau a James Ormsby. Ara mai ai tāna atawhaiaro, e whakaatu ana i te moko e tāngia e te ringa rehe, ā, he mea hono ki te whenua tonu. Ko ngā whetū e karapoti ana i tōna upoko ko ngā whetū e whitu o Te Paki o Matariki (te haki o te Kīngtitanga).

Tāwhiao (Tukaroto Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao) of Waikato iwi (tribe) Ngāti Māhuta was the second Māori king. He reigned during a period of turbulence, including land confiscation by the colonial government intended to suppress the Kīngitanga (the king movement). In the face of this Tāwhiao remained staunchly pacifist and was regarded by many as a visionary.

Tāwhiao’s mana (power, prestige) is evident in James Ormsby’s pencil drawing. His profile, marked with a skillfully rendered tā moko (facial tattoo), rises from and is connected to the whenua (land) itself. The stars encircling his head are the seven stars of Te Paki o Matariki (the Kīngtitanga emblem).

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