We have been studying the Treaty of Waitangi. As part of our preparation for our school assembly next week, we have researched people who were at the signing of the treaty. I chose to study Wiremu Hau. I have written a short speech as Wiremu Hau which I will present to our school at assembly.

Kia Ora my name is Wiremu Hau I am a Rangatira (chief) at Waimate in the Bay of Islands. I signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi. I was baptised in the early 1830s. On 13 July 1844 I wrote to chiefs inviting them to Waimate to discuss the behaviour of Ngāpuhi chief Hōne Heke Pōkai, whose men had recently looted Kororāreka and cut down the flagstaff on Maiki Hill. During the subsequent Northern War, I fought alongside the British at Ōhaeawai in July 1845. I later became an assessor in the Native Land Court. In 1874 My son Hamiora and I we were two of the leading chiefs present when the superintendent of Auckland province visited Mangōnui. According to a newspaper report, I was believed to be one of the oldest chiefs in New Zealand at this time.