Maketu

Identification

Maketu (also known as Maketu Wharetotara or Waretotara) (c. 1824 – 7 March 1842) was a Māori man executed in Auckland, New Zealand, on 7 March 1842.

Background

Maketu was the son of Ruhe of Waimate, a chief of the Ngāpuhi.

The offence

Maketu was accused of the murder of 5 people on 20th November 1841 on Motu Apohia, the island known as Robertson's Island in the Bay of Islands.

• Maketu was accused of killing Thomas Bull (Tamati Puru) with an adze. The explanation for this killing was that Thomas Bull had been mistreating Maketu.
• Maketu was accused of then killing his employer Elizabeth Robertson, a widow; her two children; and Isabella Brind, who was the grand-daughter of Rewa, a chief of the Ngai Tawake hapū of Kerikeri.
• Isabella's parents were Moewaka, Rewa's daughter, and Captain William Darby Brind.
• Maketu was also accused of setting Mrs Robertson's house on fire.

Maketu was around 20 when the crimes were committed.

Investigation and pre-trial events

At first the Ngāpuhi refused to surrender Maketu to the colonial authorities for trial. Ruhe, the father, consented after the Ngāpuhi chiefs supported the surrender of Maketu.

The meeting and events in late 1841 included opposition to the surrender of Maketu and actions taken by those opposed.

• Hone Heke had been absent from the Bay of Islands, and on his return he advocated among the Ngāpuhi for confrontation against the Government.
• A meeting of the Ngāpuhi was arranged by Archdeacon Henry Williams at Paihia at the request of Tāmati Wāka Nene.
• The meeting took place on 16th December 1841. It included Ngāpuhi from Whangaroa and Hokianga, with upwards of a thousand being present.
• The meeting was turbulent, with Heke expressing his opposition to the surrender of Maketu.
• When Heke rose to speak, he interrupted Paerau who was speaking and flourishing his hatchet at him.
• Pomare left the meeting because he did not want to be involved in fighting between different hapū of the Ngāpuhi, which had occurred in 1830 in the so-called Girls' War.
• The meeting ended with Heke and his supporters conducting a Haka on the beach at Paihia and firing their muskets, which were loaded with ball.
• Henry Williams prepared a statement of resolutions made by the Ngāpuhi who dissociated themselves from Maketu's action. The statement was signed by Tāmati Wāka Nene, Pomare, Waikato, Rewa, and Ruhe (Maketu's father).
• This message was sent to George Clarke, who had been appointed by Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson as the 'Protector of Aborigines'.
• The message was published in the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette.

After Ruhe consented to the surrender, he later appeared to regret his decision. He threatened to shoot George Clarke's cattle because George Clarke had taken his son prisoner to Auckland.

Timeline

• 20 November 1841 — Maketu was accused of the murder of 5 people on Motu Apohia (Robertson's Island) in the Bay of Islands.
• 16 December 1841 — A meeting of the Ngāpuhi took place at Paihia; Heke expressed opposition to the surrender of Maketu, and the meeting ended with Heke and supporters conducting a Haka and firing muskets loaded with ball.
• 1 March 1842 — Maketu was tried in the Supreme Court in Auckland with Chief Justice William Martin presiding.
• 7 March 1842 — Maketu was executed by hanging in Auckland.

Trial

Beginning on 1 March 1842, Maketu was tried in the Supreme Court in Auckland with Chief Justice William Martin presiding.

• This was a first time that a Māori had been brought before the colonial courts.
• C.B. Brewer was retained to appear as Maketu's legal counsel about an hour before the trial came on. Brewer had no opportunity of communicating with Maketu, and he did not see the depositions before he came into court that morning.
• Brewer argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over Maketu, on the ground of the prisoner's ignorance of the crime of murder in the penal law of the colony, and that he had no possible means or opportunity of understanding the penal law of the colony.
• Swainson, the prosecuting counsel, argued that there should be one rule for all people, whether Māori or Pakeha.
• Martin CJ ruled that Maketu and could be tried and punished by the court.
• Maketu pleaded not guilty.
• A jury convicted Maketu of murder.
• Maketu was sentenced to death.

Sentencing and execution

Maketu was sentenced to death and was hanged at the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets in Auckland.

On the morning of his execution, Maketu requested to be baptised in the Anglican rite and took the Christian names "Wiremu Kingi".

Just prior to his execution, Maketu dictated a statement:

it is my own doing
and that he had prayed to God to "wash my sins away".

Maketu was approximately 20 when the crimes were committed. He was executed in Auckland on 7 March 1842, and he was the first person executed in New Zealand under British rule.

Aftermath

These events were considered a turning point in the history of the Colony. Hone Heke became an antagonist to the colonial administration and began gathering support among the Ngāpuhi for a rebellion against the colonial administration, which occurred in 1845 with the Flagstaff War.