Wherowhero

Wherowhero is a Māori personal name and chiefly title that appears in whakapapa and histories. The most prominent bearer is Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (c. 1780–1860), a leading rangatira of the Waikato region and the Ngāti Mahuta hapū of the Waikato iwi. In the 1850s he became a central figure in the Kīngitanga, or King Movement, which sought to unite Māori under a single sovereign in response to increasing colonial influence. Accepting the role of paramount chief and leader, he helped establish the framework for a Māori monarchy that aimed to preserve rangatiratanga (chieftain authority) and to manage relations with the Crown while resisting wholesale land sales.

Wherowhero’s leadership and diplomacy laid the groundwork for the creation of the Māori kingship, and his tenure as the movement’s first figurehead solidified the idea of a unified Māori sovereignty within a colonial context. He died in 1860 and was succeeded by his son Tāwhiao, who continued the Kīngitanga and its objectives.

Beyond Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the name appears in genealogies and iwi histories as a marker of lineage within Waikato and related groups. Wherowhero thus functions both as a given name and as a key reference point in the history of the Kīngitanga and Waikato leadership.