The Forgotten Prophet: Tāmati Te Ito and His Kaingārara Movement

by Jeffrey Sissons

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.

325 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2023

Reviews

[Tom J]

generally quite good, although if you don't have a strong understanding of the topic you will likely be utterly lost for a lot of the book. a wider background for much of the content and a more in-depth approach would shave off a lot of this books harsher edges.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good account of this little known Taranaki prophet.