Tara Te Irirangi

Tara Te Irirangi (1780s–1852) also known as Te Tara ki Moehau or Ōtara Te Irirangi, was paramount chief of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki or Ngāti Tai, a Māori tribe of the eastern Auckland region of New Zealand , encompassing parts of the Hauraki Gulf and Wairoa Valley, as well as Ōtara, Clevedon, Maraetai and Howick. Te Irirangi was the great-grandson of Te Wana, a leading rangatira and well-known warrior of Ngāi Tai, who, during his life, strengthened Ngāi Tai control over the Maraetai-Wairoa area. Tara Te Irirangi died in 1852, after falling ill, his daughter Ngeungeu having been kidnapped by Nga Puhi who sided with the crown to arrange a marriage to a Scotsman losing her Mother tongue as arranged by the crown, extradited her from her father, he passed away at the mouth of the Wairoa River. He was interred in his waka in the Ngāi Tai burial swamps within the west bank of the river.