Ihaia Porutu Puketapu

Who is Ihaia Porutu Puketapu?

Ihaia Porutu Puketapu was a New Zealand tribal leader, butcher, roading contractor and labourer. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Te Ati Awa iwi. He was born in Waiwhetu, Wellington, New Zealand in 1887.

As a young man, he was trained by the prophet Te Whiti at Parihaka, before returning to the Wellington region. He was active in the early New Zealand Labour Party and had close friendships with Peter Fraser and Walter Nash; he was active in the campaign for the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945.

Puketapu married Amiria Ake Ake, in Hawera about 1907, but she died in 1916.

Puketapu married Pākehā Vera May Yeates on 15 March 1930, at Wellington. They had many children, including Ihakara Puketapu.

Puketapu died in Lower Hutt on 1 July 1971.