How to Start a Monarchy from Scratch (Part 1)

Eventually, Te Wherowhero would become the first Māori king. But decades before that, he would face off against rival tribes, proving his leadership ability and bravery in the face of an enemy coming right at him. Support Noble Blood: —PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS' https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/771398/the-arcane-arts-by-s-d-coverly/ — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/noblebloodtales — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250840578/anatomyalovestory' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250861016/immortalityalovestory' See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• 0:00Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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• 1:35Dana Schwartz?

  Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Listener discretion advised.

• 1:45Dana Schwartz?

  As TeFuerroFuerro watched his foes 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 1821, early 1822, Te Fuero Fuero and his Waikato tribe allies had battled against the Ngati Toa across forests, mountains, and swamps, with both sides suffering through hunger, pain, and frequent casualties.

• 2:30Dana Schwartz?

  So why now was his enemy retreating? Why would Te Fuero Fuero’s savvy opposite number, Te Rapa Raha, simply back off once his party had reached the Taranaaki region? Because that’s where their reinforcements were surely waiting. Between Te Fuero 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

• 3:08Dana Schwartz?

  be more than happy to attack his allied forces as they progressed into the Taranaaki Territory. And so, despite the retreat, Te Fuero 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 Te Fuero Fuero’s side were slaughtered. Those who survived made a hasty retreat, but Te Fuero Fuero refused to join them.

• 3:46Dana Schwartz?

  As the stories go, he instead stayed by the side of a killed Waikato chief. There, the allies of the enemy tribe found him.

• 3:59Dana Schwartz?

  The fighters were tempted to shoot Te Fuero Fuero 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 Rararaha, arrived on the scene. 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 in New Zealand. Te Rararaha himself had lost loved ones to his bloody, years-long feud with Te Fuero Fuero. So it's hard to imagine him not being tempted by the chance

• 4:43Dana Schwartz?

  to inflict fierce vengeance as he walked towards his nemesis. As for Te Fuero 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 outgunned, Te Fuero Fuero grabbed the tool. And with his life, his tribe's fortunes, the power dynamics of the region,

• 5:28Dana Schwartz?

  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.

• 5:51Dana Schwartz?

  Trying to rule over the entirety of New Zealand was no easy feat, especially in Te Fuera Fuaera’s era, because there was no existing monarchical structure or overarching sense of national identity. To paint an extremely broad-stroke 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 canoe

• 6:35Dana Schwartz?

  in approximately 1250. Scientific analysis has shown that they used more sophisticated navigation methods than many historians initially acknowledged. And by about 1350, 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 17th century that European sailors visited the grouping of over 600 islands. Then it took almost 200 more years for friction between colonists and Maori tribes

• 7:20Dana Schwartz?

  to fuel a brutal period of political turmoil, land grabs, and forced assimilation, all of which I will circle back to later. For now, the key hierarchies to know about that existed on the North and South Islands when Te Fuera Fuaera was born, around 1770, were the complex Maori systems of iwi, or tribes, hapu, sub-tribes, and rangatiri, or chiefs.

• 7:52Dana Schwartz?

  A rangatira’s power was often, but not always, hereditary. In Tefuerro 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. Tefuerro Fuero 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. Under the supervision of his renowned warrior father, Tefuerro Fuero reportedly honed his fighting skills,

• 8:35Dana Schwartz?

  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 Tefuerro Fuero’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.

• 9:20Dana Schwartz?

  That said, it’s often translated and understood as an intangible force that gives a person or entity prestige, authority, or power. As we’ll explore more soon, mana was key to Tefuerro Fuero’s life and unprecedented ascent as a leader. The peaceful period could only last so long for his Waikato tribe, and Tefuerro Fuero soon needed all the mana he could get to survive the coming musket wars.

• 9:55Dana Schwartz?

  The Musket Wars were actually a series of thousands of battles among Maori tribes spanning 1807 to 1845. These violent conflicts were 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

• 10:34Dana Schwartz?

  initially vastly outnumbered and supposedly mostly focused on trading, whaling, and proselytizing as Protestant Christian missionaries. This meant that in his warrior prime, Te Fuero Fuero's biggest foes were other tribes. He went on numerous military campaigns, the most dramatic being his war against the Ngati Toa Iwi. Because in this rival tribe, Te Fuero Fuero met an equally formidable adversary, a mighty chief by the name of Te Roparaha.

• 11:17Dana Schwartz?

  According to many sources, tensions particularly ratcheted up when members of the Ngati Toa killed a relative of Te Fuero Fuero'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 1820. This sparked a bitter feud over territory, resources, and purported hostile transgressions. While Te Fuero Fuero's father continued to lead the larger Waikato tribe, Te Fuero

• 11:57Dana Schwartz?

  Fuero led a coalition army of warriors from Waikato and another Iwi against the Ngato Toa and their chief. Chief Te Roparaha. Te Fuero Fuero’s side won decisive victories, attacking by land and sea and eventually surrounding the Ngatetoa near Kafia Harbour on the North Island’s west coast. Te Fuero 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.

• 12:42Dana Schwartz?

  One likely explanation proposed by experts on Maori culture is that Te Fuero Fuero showed restraint due to deeper dimensions within his tribe’s structure. Namely, while his larger Waikato Iwi was at war with Te Roparaha’s Ngatetoa Iwi, there were still numerous critical links between many of the involved fighters’ subtribes. The specific names of these connected subtribes were seemingly not well documented or commemorated, but multiple accounts claim that the majority of the senior members in Te Fuero Fuero’s army were against executing Te Roparaha.

• 13:27Dana Schwartz?

  Ultimately, Te Fuero Fuero listened to his people and negotiated for his tribe to take control of Ngatetoa territory, and he banished his foes to the Taranaki region to the south of his enlarged Waikato domain. Subsequently, Te Fuero Fuero led his army into Taranaki, possibly to keep pushing Te Roparaha 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.

• 14:08Dana Schwartz?

  Te Fuero Fuero supposedly had the foresight to realize Te 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.

• 14:27Dana Schwartz?

  The legends and history books are murky about the exact identity of the slain Waikato chief with whom Te Fuero Fuero stayed while his enemies closed in. But according to the many probably embellished accounts of that fateful 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 of Te Roparaha. Fortunately for Te Fuero Fuero, his chief adversary arrived and ultimately decided to stay his execution.

• 15:11Dana Schwartz?

  Once again, the question of why has intrigued historians and writers. The simplest explanation is that Te Roparaha felt compelled to repay his debt since Te Fuero Fuero 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. As previously mentioned, mana denoted the authority and prestige of a person.

• 15:56Dana Schwartz?

  It bestowed respect. It was the essence of someone's aura. But mana went beyond that. Maori 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 lifetime. Maori

• 16:36Dana Schwartz?

  could increase their mana through courageous acts such as fighting heroically in battle, while their mana might decrease if they suffered distinct embarrassments such as allowing themselves to be shamefully tricked. On occasion mana could be sneakily stolen, or even stem from brash humor. In a 1990 issue of New Zealand Geographic, a journalist and student of Maori culture and customs named Chris Winitana recounted this amusing story about his ancestor

• 17:14Dana Schwartz?

  from roughly 300 years ago, who was famously skilled with a type of longstaff weapon. Quote, "One day, he was caught alone near the Star Lake by a battalion of soldiers out to settle a score. Outnumbered 400 to 1, he had a choice to make: die, 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 longstaff. Do not come forth,

• 17:57Dana Schwartz?

  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 400 was game to have a go." End quote. Power, prestige, pissing contests, all were laced with mana. And above all, mana was deeply rooted in family. A Maori person's mana went all the way back to their ancestors and to the atua, their ancestral deities and potent keepers of knowledge, who helped to link people to the natural world. Crucially, Te Fuero Fueros and Te

• 18:42Dana Schwartz?

  Roparajas 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.

• 18:58Dana Schwartz?

  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. Te Fuero-Fuero 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 Te Roparaha did not let

• 19:41Dana Schwartz?

  Te Fuero-Fuero off easy. As the stories go, Te Fuero-Fuero first had to face numerous well-armed chiefs in single combat with only the simple digging tool he had to defend himself. Unlike the “long staff master” who boldly peed and farted to intimidate his foes, Te Fuero-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

• 20:18Dana Schwartz?

  of Te Fuero-Fuero’s heritage, past deeds, charisma, and raw power all ostensibly persuaded Te Roparaha to negotiate for his release when a number of Waikato allies returned. Put simply, Te Fuero-Fuero had too much mana to deny.

• 20:42Dana Schwartz?

  It’s worth noting 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 19th century to separate Maori from their lands and force them to culturally assimilate.

• 21:22Dana Schwartz?

  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 Te Fuero Fuero and Te Rapu Raha's epic rivalry. Te Fuero Fuero's legacy kept growing through the musket wars.

• 22:03Dana Schwartz?

  In terms of hierarchy, Te Fuero Fuero took command of the overall Waikato Iwi when his father died in about 1830. He then continued to increase Waikato territory throughout the central part of the North Island, ultimately helping to make them one of the most powerful and prosperous tribes in all of New Zealand. Te Fuero Fuero eventually even saw value in negotiating for peace with the Ngato 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

• 22:48Dana Schwartz?

  enemies and their increasing need to deal with foreign governments and monarchs. Some scholars have additionally posited that Te Fuero Fuero's peacemaking was a result of his increased interest in British missionaries' Christian teaching and values. All that said, Te Fuero Fuero by no means became a universally beloved individual or an entirely magnanimous figurehead. After all, he'd still committed and instigated plenty of war and murder. But as a warrior, rangtira, and spiritual leader, Te Fuero Fuero was seemingly always able to garner some level of respect, even from his

• 23:32Dana Schwartz?

  And in many ways, the image of Tifurafuero 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. Tifurafuero 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.

• 24:20Dana Schwartz?

  That's part one of the story of Tifurafuero's unique rise to royalty. But stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn a fascinating piece of his rival-turned-comrades spiritual legacy.

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• 25:09Dana Schwartz?

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• 25:42Dana Schwartz?

  Incomplete explanations, waiting for a closer look. Every episode, she reopens the cases history never closed. The Mary Celeste, a ship found sailing the Atlantic with no one aboard. The Voynich manuscript, a book no one on earth has been able to read. The Loch Ness Monster, the science, the hoax, and why the legend won't die. She digs into the evidence and tells you what she thinks really happened. Listen to Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bot every Monday. Follow on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss an episode.

• 26:24Dana Schwartz?

  That's Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bot.

• 26:28Speaker 06

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• 27:06Dana Schwartz?

  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, the Hakka most commonly performed by the All Blacks and many other New Zealand sports teams is Ka Mate, which was composed by none other than Te Fuero Fuero's one-time bitter rival, Te Rarapu Raha. Maori oral histories credit the famed Ngatutoua chief with creating the Hakka in 1820 after evading some of his Waikato enemies in the Musket Wars.

• 27:51Dana Schwartz?

  The chief reported- 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, Te Fuera Fuero eventually would as well, because the rival chief's lineage would greatly impact Te Fuera Fuero's eventual candidacy to become the first king of New Zealand.

• 28:35Dana Schwartz?

  But listen to next week's episode to find out about that.

• 28:46Dana Schwartz?

  Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Paul Jaffe, Natasha Lasky, and me, Dana Schwartz. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk and Gomes Griffin, with supervising producer Reema Ilkayali 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.

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• 30:58Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.