Author(s): Jeffrey Sissons

History | Aotearoa New Zealand Non-Fiction | Maori | 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards long lists | Biography and Memoir

Te Ito’s vision was one of pan-tribal unity; he wanted to bring together all the people of Taranaki ‘from Mokau to Pātea’. Tāmati Te Ito Ngāmoke led the prophetic Kaingārara movement in Taranaki from 1856. Te Ito was revered by tribal leaders as a prophetic tohunga matakite; but others, including many settlers and officials, viewed him as an ‘imposter’, a ‘fanatic’. Despite his influence and leadership, Te Ito’s historical importance remains largely unrecognised today. By the time war broke out in 1860, Te Ito and his followers had established a school and a court system in Taranaki. Striving for the ‘fulfilment of the divine order’, the Kaingārara movement initiated the ‘Taranaki iconoclasm’, discarding tapu objects associated with atua (ancestral spirits, which often took the form of reptiles) into massive bonfires. Te Ito was a visionary adviser to Te Ātiawa chief Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, and played a crucial role in the conflicted region, both before and after the wars of the 1860s. Initially perceived as a rival to the Parihaka leaders, Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, he eventually joined the Parihaka community. Jeffrey Sissons’s account illuminates this tumultuous chapter in Aotearoa’s history.  

Tāmati Te Ito Ngāmoke, a renowned Taranaki prophet, played a significant role in colonial New Zealand’s political landscape. While some, including most settlers and officials, viewed him as an ‘imposter’, a ‘wizard’, a ‘fanatic’; others, including major Taranaki tribal leaders, revered him as a prophetic tohunga matakite known as ‘Te Kai-ngārara’ – The Reptile Eater. Today, overshadowed by religious leaders like Te Ua Haumēne and Te Whiti o Rongomai, Te Ito’s historical importance remains largely unrecognised. This book uncovers his story and impact on Aotearoa’s history.

In 1856 Te Ito led the Kaingārara movement, seeking the ‘fulfilment of the divine order’ in Taranaki when tapu would finally be defeated. Initiating the ‘Taranaki iconoclasm’, his followers built huge bonfires in New Plymouth and settlements to the south into which treasures, carvings and other tapu objects that had been associated with atua (ancestral spirits) were thrown. The movement established a school and court system and contemplated a religious community before the first Taranaki war erupted in 1860. As the visionary advisor to Te Ātiawa chief Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, Te Ito played a crucial role in the lead-up to the conflict, later orchestrating fires that displaced settlers. Perceived as a rival to Parihaka prophets Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi in the late 1860s–1870s, Te Ito eventually joined Parihaka in 1872 as a respected leader under Te Whiti and Tohu’s mana.

Jeffrey Sissons’ remarkable account, based on extensive research, offers a fresh perspective on New Zealand’s past by illuminating the life and contributions of a key religious leader previously unacknowledged.