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Pera Te Rangituatahi Tutoko was one of the first batch of Māori prisoners incarcerated at Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) in 1866. Leading up to his incarceration, Tutoko was part of a 200-plus strong group of Māori who vowed to defend their land from imminent confiscation by the Government and to maintain independence. The standoff is now famously referred to as the November 1865 one-week 'hinge of fate'¹ attack on Waerenga a Hika Pa in Poverty Bay. The fate of Tutoko after this event, together with other Māori including Te Kooti Te Turuki Arikirangi was that they were sent to Napier, then exiled to Wharekauri. The cause and significance of the attack on Waerenga a Hika Pa is still being debated today.

Ironically, it is said that Te Kooti Arikirangi² was part of a group of Rongowhakaata Māori who fought on the Government side during the Waerenga a Hika siege.  Arrested on suspicion of spying at that time, Te Kooti was seized on 3 March 1866 and detained in Napier. Despite protesting his innocence and repeated requests for a trial, he was shipped with other prisoners to Wharekauri on 5 June 1866.³ Pera eventually escaped on board the Rifleman with Te Kooti and others captives from Wharekauri and reached Whareongaonga, south of Poverty Bay, on 10 July 1868.

Around 1886-7 Pera was in Gisborne when elders of the day decided to visit Te Kooti at Te Tokonganui-a-noho Marae at Te Kuiti seeking spiritual advice. Te Kooti's advice was that Rongowhakaata Maori should 'Whakahaungia te Rongopai I runga I te Ngawari me te Aroha.' Translated this means they should 'Proclaim the gospel, the gentler faith and the love of God.' They honoured Te Kooti by building four major marae named Whakahau, Rongopai, Ngawari and Te Aroha.

Lindauer inscribed this painting with the words Chief Pera Tutoko of Kaitara, PV (Poverty Bay). In Pera's lifetime, Kaitara was a fighting pā, but is now a tribal urupa.  Pera had whakapapa connections to Te Urewera and his given name was Te Rangituatahi Pera Uatuku. The name Pera is an abbreviation of the name Aperahama, the Māorified Christian name for Abraham. The name Tutoko was bestowed on Pera in honour of a family ancestor.

Pera was a practitioner of spirit-based ideology and strongly believed in the philosophic power of Māori to vision their future.  His Nga Potiki worldview was inspirational to his people and his ideologies continue to motivate his descendants to this day.⁴ Aperahama died 15 May 1897.⁵

NM