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The Governor 4 - He Iwi Ko Tahi Tatou / Now We Are One People (Episode Four)

1977 Television
  • Drama
  • Māori
  • NZ History
  • Te Reo
  • War

In The Governor's fourth episode, war looms in the Waikato as Māori iwi band together. Peacemaker and kingmaker Wiremu Tāmihana (Don Selwyn) agonises over the right course of action. This episode was a notable bicultural flagbearer in terms of drawing on Māori knowledge and oral history, and featuring extensive te reo. It follows key events from the early 1830s to 1863, leading to the investiture of the first Māori King. Discussions between historical figures like Te Wherowhero, Rewi Maniapoto and Te Heuheu are dramatised; motivations are revealed, and lines drawn. The episode won a Feltex Award for Best Script. 

Key Cast & Crew

Profile picture of Wi Kuki Kaa
Wi Kuki Kaa
As: Rewi Maniapoto
Profile picture of Don Selwyn
Don Selwyn
Māori Liaison
BT
Bill Tawhai
As: Pōtatau Te Wherowhero
TT
Tamahina Tinirau
As: Te Rauparaha

Related images

The-Governor-Gallery-7.jpg
Some of the buildings created for The Governor, likely in the hills above the Hutt Valley.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
The-Governor-Gallery-11.jpg
Hōne Heke (George Henare) signs the Treaty of Waitangi in 'The Reverend Traitor', the first episode of The Governor. His friend Henry Williams (Grant Tilly) sits opposite.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
The-Governor-Episode-4-Gallery-1.jpg
A photo from the fourth episode of The Governor: from left, Pōtautau Te Wherowhero (Bill Tawhai),the first Māori King, and Iwikau Te Heuheu, paramount chief of the Tūwharetoa people.
Kindly supplied by The Dominon Post
The-Governor-Gallery-5.jpg
Judy Cleine as Eliza Grey in historical epic The Governor. She featured in a number of episodes, especially 'No Way to Treat a Lady', the episode devoted to her relationship with George Grey.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
The-Governor-Gallery-3.jpg
A glimpse behind one of the bigger sets built for 1977 TV drama The Governor. George Grey's Mansion House at Kawau Island was recreated on a farm in Forest Lakes, Ōtaki. The set is seen in episode six, 'To the Death'.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
The-Governor-Gallery-2.jpg
At right, actor Don Selwyn (who played Wiremu Tāmihana) explains some of the finer points of a greenstone mere to Eastbourne antique dealer Helen Jenkinson, at an auction of props from historical epic The Governor.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post
The-Governor-Gallery-1.jpg
Sergeant Johnson (Norman Fletcher) finds the rules of combat on a warrior during the Tauranga campaign. It reads: "If thine enemy hungers, give him food. If he thirsts, give him drink". From the fifth episode of The Governor, 'The Lame Seagull'.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.

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