Taranaki Region in the context of "New Plymouth"

Te Whiti o Rongomai III (c. 1830 – 18 November 1907) was a Māori spiritual leader and founder of the village of Parihaka, in New Zealand's Taranaki region.

A proponent of nonviolence, Te Whiti established Parihaka community as a place of sanctuary and peace for Māori many of whom sook refuge as their land was confiscated in the early 1860s. Parihaka became a place of peaceful resistance to the encroaching confiscations.

Tohu Kākahi (c. 1828 – 4 February 1907) was a Māori leader, a warrior leader in the anti government Hau Hau Movement 1864-66 and later a prophet at Parihaka, who along with Te Whiti o Rongomai organised passive resistance against the occupation of Taranaki in the 1870s in New Zealand.

Details of Tohu's early life are unclear. According to some descendants he was born at Puketapu on 22 January 1828, although other locations and dates have been claimed. He was regarded as a warrior, teacher and prophet and it is said Tohu confirmed Pōtatau Te Wherowhero's son Tāwhiao as the second Māori King, and was his spiritual adviser.In November 1861 Tohu captured Bishop Selwyn during his visit to Taranaki to see Tamihana Te Rauparaha. This and his later repeated attacks against the settlers and government as part of the violent Hau hau movement convinced the government they were dealing with a war like leader.

In Māori tradition, Tokomaru was one of the great ocean-going canoes that were used in the migrations that settled New Zealand. It was commanded by Manaia. His brother-in-law had originally owned the canoe. When Manaia's wife was raped by a group of men, he slew them, including the chief Tupenu. Killing his brother-in-law, he took the Tokomaru and set sail with his family for New Zealand. Landing at Whangaparaoa, they finally settled at Taranaki. Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama iwi trace their ancestry back to Tokomaru.