Wi Pere

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Wi Pere (Wiremu Pere) (7 March 1837 – 9 December 1915) was a Māori leader and New Zealand politician. He represented Eastern Māori in Parliament from 1884 to 1887 and again from 1893 to 1905 as a Liberal. He was known for opposing the government’s Māori land policies and for his role in the land struggles of the 1860s and 1870s. He spoke strongly in Māori and was respected as a skilled orator and defender of his people.

Early life
He was born in Gisborne (Tūranga) in 1837. His father was Thomas Halbert, an English trader, and his mother was Riria Mauaranui, a Māori leader from Te Whānau-a-Māhaki and Rongowhakaata. He grew up learning tribal lore and governance from elders and was educated within his community. He was baptized William Halbert but was commonly known as Wiremu Pere. In 1856 he married Arapera Matenga Toti.

Political and social work
In the 1860s and 1870s, during tensions around land and conflict, Pere supported the government and remained loyal to the Anglican church, while opposing the exile of Poverty Bay Māori to the Chatham Islands and resisting land confiscations. He helped the Repudiation movement to defend Māori land and joined the Kotahitanga movement, which aimed for a separate Māori Parliament.

Parliament and later roles
Pere won the Eastern Māori seat in 1884 but lost it to James Carroll in 1887 and again in 1890. Carroll stood down in 1893, and Pere won back the seat, serving until 1905 before losing to Āpirana Ngata. In 1907 he was appointed to the Legislative Council, where he was effectively the only Māori member for a time. He supported the empire and even offered to lead a Māori unit in the South African War. He was removed from the Council in 1912.

Death and legacy
Wi Pere died in 1915 in Gisborne and was buried at Waerenga-a-Hika. Apirana Ngata praised him as a great fighter for his people. A monument to Wi Pere was unveiled in Gisborne in 1919. His son Albert Pere became a lawyer and local councillor.