Tamati Waka Manaia (Tamati Waka Te Puhi)

Te Puhi (Ngāti Maru) lived at Manaia in Thames and was active in protecting his tribe’s land interests at Poihakena. In 1869 he protested the purchase of the Hauraki foreshore by the Crown who wanted it as an endowment for Thames and in 1886 he wrote to the council of the Thames County complaining that a road had been constructed over a tapu site north of Thames. It is thought that he was one of the few of his people to survive the musket attacks by Hongi Hika’s warriors when they took Te Totara pā near Thames. Although not directly used as a basis for Lindauer’s portrait of Tamati Waka Te Puhi, this photograph relates to Lindauer’s portrait of Tamati Waka Te Puhi and the Foy photograph of Te Puhi in the Auckland Art Gallery’s collection.

Three other known Lindauer portraits of Māori from this region dating from 1878 (Hori Ngakapa Whanaunga, Heeni Hirini and Pare Watene) are also based on Foy Brothers’ photographs, suggesting that the photographic sources for all four paintings were procured at the same time.

The huia feathers in his hair may have been a studio prop in the Foy Brothers’ photographic studio and are parted and worn in European fashion. His cloak and facial position have been altered in the painted interpretation of this photograph.

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