Whitikama is listed, Ngati Ruanui tribe, killed in The Taranaki Herald 7 April 1860. The same list is given in an open letter written in Maori by Native Secretary Donald McLean, dated ‘Taranaki’, 4 April 1860 (Parkinson and Griffith 2004:519) and the name is Whitikama Kumupuhia. Prickett (2005) writes, of the spelling differences that McLean is likely to be correct because of his knowledge of Maori and he will also have known some of the named men.

The Taranaki Herald of 7 April gives further information regarding Maori casualties. In the ‘Journal of Events’ dated 31 March, on Monday (1 April) it is reported that ‘Whitikamu’ and ‘Manihera’ had been found buried on the battlefield. Prickett (2005) comments that this appears to contradict the general assertion that the chiefs were taken south for burial, and raises the question as to how many of the bodies found at Waireka after the battle are additional to the named chiefs.

Grayling (1862:93; Fig. 3) records his name as Whitikama and names him as one of the leading chiefs killed. The information is described as being ‘…derived from native sources’ by G.W. Woon, publisher of The Taranaki Herald from 1852 to 1865.

The Taranaki Herald 7 April 1860. Grayling, W.I. 1862. The war in Taranaki, during the years 1860-61. New Plymouth, G.W. Woon. Belich, J. 1986. The New Zealand Wars: and the Victorian interpretation of racial conflict. Auckland, Auckland University Press AWMM