Kereopa Te Rau

He was baptised by the Catholic missionary Father Euloge Reignier in the 1840s and was given the Christian name of Kereopa, the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name Cleopas.His wife and two daughters are believed to have been killed in an attack mounted on 21 February 1864 by government forces on the village of Rangiaowhia near Te Awamutu in 1864.[1] Shortly afterwards Kereopa met up with the prophet Te Ua Haumēne and converted to the Pai Mārire faith.Immediately afterwards Kereopa preached a sermon from Volkner's pulpit during which he gouged the missionary's eyes out of his head and ate them.He was convicted and, despite appeals for clemency from the missionary William Colenso, who noted punishment had already been meted out for the crime, was hanged in Napier on 5 January 1872.
NapierPai MārireMāoriVolkner IncidentNgāti RangiwewehiTe ArawaCleopasAucklandKing MovementInvasion of the WaikatoRangiaowhiaTe AwamutuTe Ua HaumēneEast CoastPākehāŌpōtikiCarl VolknerGisborneUreweraTūhoeWaikatoNgāti ManawaNgāti RangitihikūpapaUrewerasTe KootiRopata WahawahaWilliam Colenso