About: Tamamutu

Tamamutu was a 17th-century Maori ariki (chieftain) of the Ngāti Te Rangiita hapū and the paramount chief of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi of the region around Lake Taupō, New Zealand. He was based at Motutere, but was an active warrior, leading campaigns against the Whanganui Māori of the Manganuioteao River valley to the southwest, against Te Arawa on the shores of Lake Rotorua to the north, and against Ngati Kahungunu in Hawke’s Bay. He was also a talented orator, who is the source of several whakatauki (Māori proverbs) and forged a lasting peace between Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Arawa. On his death, he was succeeded as paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa by his son Kapawa.