How to Start a Monarchy from Scratch (Part 1)

0:00Speaker 1:Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky listener Discretion advised. As Tifuera Fero watched his foe's retreat toward the muddy banks of the Waitara River, it all felt too easy. For nearly two years, the seasoned Maori warrior had led his vast army to push their tribal rivals down the west coast of what is now known as New Zealand's North Island. By late eighteen twenty one early eighteen twenty two, Tefuerafuero and his Waikato tribe allies had battled against the Ingati Tooa across forests, mountains, and swamps, with both sides suffering through hunger, pain and frequent casualties. So why now was his enemy retreating? I would Tifuero Fuero's savvy opposite number, Te Rappiah, simply back off once his party had reached the Taranaki region, because that's where their reinforcements were surely waiting.

1:18Speaker 1:Between Tifuero Fuero's years of military experience and his lifetime of absorbing Maori lore and tribal connections, he knew there were plenty of hostile adversaries who would be more than happy to attack his allied forces as they progressed into the Taranaki territory, and so despite the retreat, Tifuero Fuero urged his army to halt, but many of his fellow leaders did not listen, instead ordering their men to charge. What followed was a brutal military disaster in which many of Tifuera Wero's side were slaughtered. Those who survived made a hasty retreat, but Tifuerafera refused to join them. As the stories go, he instead stayed by the side of a killed Waikato chief. There the allies of the enemy tribe found him. The fighters were tempted to shoot Tifuerafero on the spot, after all, he was the enemy leader he'd likely been responsible for the deaths of many of their relatives, But then the leader of the enemy group, te Raparaha, arrived.

2:43Speaker 2:On the scene.

2:44Speaker 1:No one dared get in the way of the prominent chief and warlord who had transformed his small tribe into one of the most powerful on New Zealand. Tee Raparaha himself had lost loved ones to his bloody years long feud with Tefuero Fuero, so it's hard to imagine him not being tempted by the chance to inflict fierce vengeance as he walked towards his nemesis. As for Tefuero Fuero, he was not one to go down without a fight. He was purportedly just as skilled with words as he was with weapons, which was a fortunate backup skill to have, because, according to several sources, the only weapon available to him at that moment was a digging implement. Despite being ridiculously outnumbered and out gunned, Tefuero Fuero grabbed the tool, and with his life, his tribe's fortunes, the power dynamics of the region, and even the fate of long term royal control of New Zealand all hanging in the balance. He wielded his small weapon with every last bit of gravitas he could gather as his enemy approached. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. Trying to rule over the entirety of New Zealand was no easy feat, especially in

4:22Speaker 1:Tifuerfuera's era, because there was no existing monarchical structure or overarching sense of national identity to paint an extremely broad strokes picture of New Zealand's early history. Its two largest islands, now simply called the North Island and South Island, were the last large habitable land masses on Earth to be reached by humans. According to both modern archaeological studies and generational Maori wisdom, Polynesians first traveled to the North Island by co new in approximately twelve fifty. Scientific analysis has shown that they used more sophisticated navigation methods than many historians initially acknowledged, and by about thirteen fifty, Polynesian settlers were migrating in more substantial numbers. Over time, as villages grew, they began forming a distinct Maori culture. It wasn't until the seventeenth century that European sailors visited the grouping of over six hundred islands. Then it took almost two hundred more years for friction between colonists and Maori tribes to fuel a brutal period of political turmoil, land grabs, and forced assimilation, all of which I will circle back to later.

5:56Speaker 1:For now, the key hierarchies to know about that existed on the North and South Islands when Tefuera Fwara was born around seventeen seventy were the complex Maori systems of iwi or tribes, hapu subtribes, and rangitiri or chiefs. A rangatira's power was often, but not always hereditary. In Tifuero Fuero's case, it certainly was, since his father was a chief and his mother the daughter of another chief within the large Waikato tribe. This afforded him ample clout and opportunity from birth. Tifuera Pharo also initially benefited from growing up in a period of relative peace, since that allowed him plenty of time to gain valuable knowledge and experience.

6:52Speaker 1:Under the supervision of his renowned warrior father, Tifuerafwara reportedly honed his fighting skills, studied military strategy, and absorbed traditional Maori lore. Then he continued to learn genealogy, sacred rituals, and arcane wisdom at an exclusive Maori institution of higher learning where elders instructed a select few pupils, mostly sons of chiefs. This all helped enhance Tefuera Fuera's mana, a crucial element for a Maori leader. The concept of mana is extremely complex and profound within Maori culture, and therefore difficult for me to succinctly encapsulate that said it often translated and understood as an intangible force that gives a person or entity prestige, authority.

7:55Speaker 2:Or power.

7:56Speaker 1:As will explore more soon, mana was key to Tefuera Fuera's life and unprecedented assent as a leader. The peaceful period could only last so long for his Waikato tribe, and Tifuera Fuero soon needed all the mana he could get to survive the coming musket Wars. The Musket Wars were actually a series of thousands of battles among Maori tribes spanning eighteen o seven to eighteen forty five.

8:31Speaker 2:These violent conflicts were.

8:33Speaker 1:Later grouped together by scholars due to how they were markedly influenced by the introduction of you guessed it, the musket. As European settlers brought and traded guns, it essentially sparked a Maori arms race among tribes and subtribes. Although the Europeans, the majority of them British, supplied the firepower, they were initially vastly outnumbered and supposedly mostly focused on trading, wailing, and proselytizing as Protestant Christian missionaries. This meant that In his warrior prime, Tifuero Fuera's biggest foes were other tribes.

9:19Speaker 1:He went on numerous military campaigns, the most dramatic being his war against the Ngati Toa Ewi.

9:27Speaker 2:Because in this.

9:29Speaker 1:Rival tribe, Tifuero Fuero met an equally formidable adversary, a mighty chief by the name of Tea Paraha. According to many sources, tensions particularly ratched it up when members of the Ningteta killed a relative of Tifuero Fuera's. This prompted him to spearhead a series of revenge missions, which included allegedly overseeing the murder of one of te Roparaha's wives when she visited Waikato territory in eighteen twenty. This sparked a bitter feud over territory resources and purported hostile transgressions.

10:15Speaker 1:While Tifuera Fero's father continued to lead the larger Waikato tribe, Tifuera Faro led a coalition army of warriors from Waikato and another Ewe against the Gata Toa and their chief, Teaparaja. Tifuera Fuero's side won decisive victories, attacking by land and sea, and eventually surrounding the Ngaatee Toa near Kafia Harbor on the North Island's west coast. Tifuera Fuero and his legion of warriors seemingly had a perfect chance to annihilate their opposition, and yet they didn't. The reasoning behind this apparently perplexed some scholars, especially those predominantly accustomed to studying European monarchies.

11:07Speaker 1:One likely explanation proposed by experts on Maori culture is that Tefuero Fero showed restraint due to deeper dimensions within his tribe's structure. Namely, while his larger waikato Ewi was at war with te Roparaja's gate Toa Ewei, there were still numerous critical links between many of the involved fighter's subtribes. The specific names of these connected subtribes were seemingly not well documented or commemorated, but multiple accounts claimed that the majority of the senior members in Tifuera Pharo's army were against executing te Roparaha. Ultimately, Tefuera Faro listened to his people and negotiated for his tribe to take control of Ngatitoa territory, and he banished his foes to the Taranaki region, to the south of his enlarged Wakato domain. Subsequently, Tifuerafaro led his army into Taranaki, possibly to keep pushing tey Roparaja south, although it appears probable that his most pressing goal was to rescue an allied war party that was under siege nearby. This is where things took a drastic turn.

12:33Speaker 1:Tifuera Faro supposedly had the foresight to realize tey Roparaha was planning the fake retreat, but when his fellow Waikato warriors and chiefs disregarded his warnings and attacked anyway, he had little choice but to support them.

12:52Speaker 2:The legends and.

12:53Speaker 1:History books are murky about the exact identity of the slain Waikato chief with whom Tifuera Faro stayed while his enemies closed in, But according to the many, probably embellished accounts of that faithful day, his loyalty to his allies and love for his fellow leader could not have been clearer. The real question was how far any related benevolence stretched among his enemies, namely, what mercy was within the heart.

13:24Speaker 2:Of te Roparaha.

13:27Speaker 1:Fortunately for te Fuera Fuero, his chief adversary arrived and ultimately decided to stay his execution once again. The question of why has intrigued historians and writers. The simplest explanation is that tey Roparaha felt compelled to repay his debt since Tifuerafuero had previously spared his life. As we've touched upon, the more complex answer involves several other notable factors, including territory negotiations and underlying relationships between subtribes. Importantly underpinning all of this was the fascinating and foundational concept of mana.

14:14Speaker 1:As previously mentioned, mana denoted the authority and prestige of a person. It bestowed respect. It was the essence of someone's aura. But mana went beyond that. Mawari society had no specific word or concept of religion in the same sense that many European cultures at the time did. As certain researchers and anthropologists have pointed out, supernatural and natural were inextricably linked and intertwined throughout the fabric of Maori daily tribal life, all through mana. Mana was inherited at birth, but also constantly fluctuated over one's life. Lifetime Maori could increase their mana through courageous acts such as fighting heroically in battle, while their mona might decrease if they suffered distinct embarrassments, such as allowing themselves to be shamefully tricked.

15:17Speaker 1:On occasion, mana could be sneakily stolen, or even stem from brash humor. In a nineteen ninety issue of New Zealand Geographic, a journalist and student of Maori culture and customs named Chris Winitana recounted this amusing story about his ancestor from roughly three hundred years ago, who was famously skilled with a type of long staff weapon.

15:47Speaker 2:Quote.

15:47Speaker 1:One day he was caught alone near the Starlake by a battalion of soldiers out to settle a score. Outnumbered four hundred to one. He had a choice to make I run or simply see who had the most mana. Deciding on the latter, he calmly lifted his war apron, exposed himself and urinated in front of the enemy. Satisfied that he had made the right impact, he yelled out to them, you have now seen my long staff. Do not come forth, for its mana will kill you. Nonchalantly, he turned around broke wind and walked away fearing the double edged threat of his mana. Not one of the four hundred was gained to have a go end quote, power, prestige.

16:41Speaker 2:Pissing contests.

16:43Speaker 1:All were laced with mana, and above all, mana was deeply rooted in family a Maori persons, mana went all the way back to their ancestors and to the attua, their ancestral deities and potent keepers of knowledge who helped to link people to the natural world. Crucially, Tifuero Fuero's and Teo Paraha's respective mana were believed to flow all the way from the revered captains of the two legendary Polynesian canoes that first landed on the shores of the North Island. So these leaders crossing paths as influential chiefs in their own rights was something of a full circle moment in terms of New Zealand Maori and hereditary history.

17:37Speaker 1:Tifuerofwero would have undoubtedly known this thanks to his schooling and genealogical wisdom. Accordingly, he was reportedly an eloquent orator, and so he surely made his case well when faced with his rival chieftain and the threat of execution and what he couldn't get across in words, he backed up with his actions because tay Roparaha did not let Tefuero Fuero off easy. As the stories go, Tefuero Faro first had to face numerous well armed chiefs in single combat with only the simple digging tool.

18:19Speaker 2:He had to defend himself.

18:21Speaker 1:Unlike the hem long staff master who boldly peered and farted to intimidate his foes, Tifuero Fuero had to actually fight for his life since his opponents apparently were all game to have a go. But he conducted himself valiantly, and in the end, the combination of Tefuero Fuero's heritage, past deeds, charisma and raw power all ostensibly persuaded te Roparajas to negotiate for his release when a number of Waikato allies returned put simply to Fuero Fuero had too much manna to deny.

19:07Speaker 2:It's worth noting.

19:08Speaker 1:That scholarship today largely relies on both European historical texts and Maori oral traditions. Understandably, these sources often offer decidedly different perspectives. For a long period, Maori oral traditions were disregarded by many colonial scholars. These dismissals purportedly went hand in hand with the sort of Eurocentric vision for New Zealand that was used to directly and indirectly justify attempts throughout the nineteenth century to separate Maori from their lands and force them to culturally assimilate. However, later analysis by a range of both Maori historians and non native researchers frequently showed that, while sometimes embellished, these oral histories were just as accurate, if not more so, than many European settlers written documentations, and if anything, the passed down legends give us the best context and insight regarding many significant and densely interconnected Maori tribal events, such as Tefuero Fuero and te Rapuraja's epic rivalry. Tefuero Whero's legacy kept growing through the Musket Wars. In terms of hierarchy, Tifuera Fero took command of the overall Waikato Iwi when his father

20:36Speaker 1:died in about eighteen thirty. He then continued to increase Waikato territory throughout the central parts of the North Island, ultimately helping to make them one of the most powerful and prosperous tribes in all of New Zealand, Tiferafwaro eventually even saw value in negotiating for peace with the ingato Toa. According to some chroniclers, it was quite mutually beneficial for these prominent tribes to work together as their interests further aligned due to the encroachment of common enemies and their increasing need to deal with foreign governments and monarchs. Some scholars have additionally posited that Tefuera Fero's peacemaking was a result of his increased interest in British missionaries, Christian teaching and values. All that said, Tefuerafhero by no means became a universally beloved individual or an entirely magnanimous figurehead. After all, he'd still committed and instigated plenty.

21:44Speaker 2:Of war and murder.

21:46Speaker 1:But as a warrior, rankedira and spiritual leader, Tiferafwaro was seemingly always able to garner some level of respect even from his opponents, and in many ways, the image of Tifuera Faro loyally standing guard besides a fallen ally brandishing a digging implement while attackers encircled him was symbolic of both his persona and of dramatic events to come. Because as colonists increasingly ventured from Europe to New Zealand, the dark storm clouds of a Maori versus British war began gathering on the horizon. Tifuera Fuero would soon find himself caught in the middle, as he was ultimately presented with the staggering opportunity to become the first ever monarch in Maori history. That's part one of the story of Tifuera Fera's unique rise to royalty. But stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn a fascinating piece of his rival turn comrades spiritual legacy. For anyone who has watched New Zealand's vaunted international rugby team, the All Blacks prepare for a match in recent decades, the sight and sound of their forceful hakka or ceremonial challenge is incredibly iconic. Interestingly,

23:23Speaker 1:the hakka most commonly performed by the All Blacks and many other New Zealand sports teams is kat Mate, which was composed by none other than Tefuero Fuero's one time bitter rival, te Rapuraha. Maori oral histories credit the famed in gattutoa chief with creating the hakka in eighteen twenty, after evading some of his Waikato enemies in the Musket Wars, the chief reportedly had to hide in a sweet potato storage pit with the help of a female farmer. When he safely emerged into the sunlight, he was so elated and thankful that he composed the chant as a celebration of life over death and as an ode to the spiritual power of the woman who stood guard and helped save his life. Not only did New Zealand's sporting traditions benefit from the chief surviving, Tefuera Wharo eventually would as well, because the rival chief's lineage would greatly impact Tefuera Fero's eventual candidacy to become the first King of New Zealand.

24:34Speaker 1:But listen to next week's episode to find.

24:37Speaker 2:Out about that.

24:45Speaker 1:Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah's Wick, Paul Jaffey, Natasha and me Danish Wortz. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk and Nomes Griffin, with supervising producer rima Il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.