Career
He gave the mountains of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe to the Crown in 1887 for the creation of Tongariro National Park. Horonuku"s father, Mananui (Tukino II), was a famous warrior who led the tribe successfully in many wars. Mananui stood well over two metres tall and was heavily built, and was not only a formidable warrior but also a fine military tactician.
Horonuku was not renowned as a warrior, but was an intelligent and far sighted statesman who did his best for his people.
During the 1860s Tuwharetoa lands in the central North Island were leased to European settlers farming sheep. But a decade later the Tuwharetoa were worried that the mountains were to be surveyed and that Europeans would break traditional tapu.
Horonuku, having discussed the subject with other chiefs of his tribe, put a proposition to the government – that the land be bequeathed to the nation as a national park, on the condition that the government should remove from the mountains the remains of their famous predecessors, including Mananui, and erect a suitable tomb. The government agreed and the deed was signed by John Ballance as Native Minister and Horonuku, in 1887.
