Postwar Years
By the end of Te Kooti's War Ropata was recognized as one of the leading men of the Ngati Porou. He used his influence to strengthen the tribe's position both with the Government and with their traditional enemies. The tribe lost very little land by confiscation partly because Ropata helped to persuade many of them to let out their land on long-term leases.
In 1875 he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Eastern Maori electorate. In 1878 he was awarded The Sword of Honour from Queen Victoria and appointed commander for the regional militia together with a pension from the Government, originally 200 pounds a year, although later it was halved. He was also a sheep farmer, sometimes successful and sometimes not.
By a curious twist of fate he eventually got the chance to arrest Te Kooti. Te Kooti had been pardoned in 1883 and since then had built up a quite large religious following. This was tolerated until 1889 when he decided to return to Poverty Bay, the scene of his earlier exploits. Ropata and Porter, still working together, were appointed by the Prime Minister to make sure Te Kooti did not enter the East Cape or Urewera region. The Ngati Porou were mobilized once again. They arrived on the scene just as Te Kooti was arrested by a police inspector, in time to prevent Te Kooti's followers from making a violent issue of it. Unfortunately Ropata missed the actual arrest because of ill health.
On 10 May 1887 he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council. He remained a member until he died.
Ropata died in Gisborne, 1 July 1897. His last words were, apparently, "Where's Porter?"
He accomplished a great deal in his life; rising from slavery to be a leader of his people and an important man on the national scene. It is said that there was only one goal he didn't accomplish—he never learned to speak English.
Read more about this topic: Ropata Wahawaha
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