Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (16 June 1906 – 18 May 1966) was the fifth Māori King. He was the elder son of the fourth Māori King, Te Rata Mahuta, and Te Uranga of the Ngāti Korokī tribe.
Biography
Korokī Mahuta was born at Waahi, Huntly, on 16 June 1906. He was named Korokī after the ancestor of his mother's tribe.[1] He had at least two brothers and two sisters. Korokī's younger brother Taipū died in 1924,[2] shortly after arriving at Wesley College.[1]
Korokī had a relationship with Te Paea Raihe, probably in the 1920s, and they had two daughters. In about 1930 Princess Te Puea Herangi arranged for him to marry her niece Te Atairangikaahu, the daughter of her brother Wanakore Herangi. Te Atairangikaahu had a daughter, Piki, born in 1931. They adopted a son, Robert Mahuta, in 1939. Korokī and his family lived at Waahi.[1]
Korokī's father died on 1 October 1933, when Korokī was 24.[2] He was chosen to succeed his father as king and accepted reluctantly. He was crowned on 8 October 1933, the day of his father's funeral.[1]
He died at Ngāruawāhia on 18 May 1966 and was buried on Mount Taupiri on 23 May 1966. He was succeeded by his daughter Piki, who was given her mother's name of Te Atairangikaahu at her coronation.
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