Prince Tui Teka

Prince Tui Teka was born in Ruatahuna in 1937. He joined a circus in the early 1950s and moved to Australia. A multi-instrumentalist with a big personality and an infectious sense of humour, he established himself as a cabaret musician with The Māori Troubadours and then The Māori Volcanics. A solo career followed in the early 1970s. He moved back to Tokomaru Bay in 1981 and co-wrote his greatest hit '‘E Ipo' with Ngoi ('Poi E') Pēwhairangi when he was courting her niece Missy, his future wife. It was New Zealand’s first te reo chart topper. He died of a heart attack on 23 January 1985, during a break from a gig.