Ropiha Street

Ropiha Street is named after Hone Ropiha Te Keukeu, one of the principal chiefs of Te Atiawa and a Native Assessor.  Hone's position as a Native Assessor of the Magistrate Courts allowed him restricted jurisdiction over Māori being heard locally under the Native Circuit Court. This appointment also allowed him to operate as a Native Assessor for local sittings of the Native Land Court. 

Hone himself had a fifty-acre section at Purakau and a one hundred acre reserve bounded by the Arahake and Waiwhakaiho Rivers, awarded to him by Wesleyan minister Henry Turton.

Hone is particularly remembered during the land disputes of the 1850's when he wrote to Governor Wynyard asking for troops to be sent to New Plymouth to protect the English and Māori, even though there had been an earlier refusal by both Governors Fitzroy and Grey.

He was so well respected by Pākehā that at a public dinner on 13 March, 1854 at the "Seven Stars Inn" in New Plymouth, Donald McLean spoke of Hone... "Yet another loyal native and loyal supporter of law and order".

Henry Halse even suggested that Hone Ropiha should be rewarded for his role in facilitating land transactions. In a letter to McLean in November, 1856, he urges:

"I trust the laurel will be awarded to the right person - Hone Ropiha"

The letter goes on to say that he (Halse) is concerned about what arrangements natives could come to around the land deals and was convinced Ropiha would help the Pākehā cause.

Hone passed away at Rai-o-Miti pā, in December 1858. His urupā (grave) is situated on the side of a cliff overlooking the Waiwhakaiho River, on Clemow Road in Fitzroy.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.