Wakahuia Carkeek was born in Palmerston North and was educated at Horowhenua College and Wellington Teachers’ College. In 1960 he joined the Dominion as their Chief Reader. He was a member of the Polynesian Society and of the Wellington Regional Committee of the National Historic Places Trust. He had a long interest in the history of the Māori people of the Kapiti Coast.
Biographical sources
- Phone call with Helen Carkeek 23 Feb. 1998.
- Te Ao Hou 59 (1967): 3.
Non-fiction
- "A Century of Racing." Te Ao Hou 23 (1958): 25-29, 51.
- Carkeek provides a history of racing at Otaki noting early race meetings in the district in 1854, the founding of the first official racing club in Otaki in 1880 and the establishment of the Otaki Māori Racing Club in 1885.
- "Jim Morris Gun Shearer of the Wairarapa." Wattie Karkeek. [sic] Te Ao Hou 26 (1959): 36-37.
- Carkeek writes of Jim Morris’ world record-breaking shearing triumph when he sheared 474 fat lambs in one day in 1958.
- "Te Rauparaha. Part 1: Kawhia and the Journey South." Te Ao Hou 30 (1960): 6-9.
- Carkeek writes of Te Rauparaha’s early years at Kawhia and Maungatautari, and the events surrounding his migration down to the Horowhenua coastline. Carkeek describes Te Rauparaha’s battles against the Muaupoko, Rangitane, Ngāti Apa and Whanganui tribes and notes the role of Waitohi, Te Rauparaha’s sister, in devising strategies for the division of the conquered land between Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Awa.
- "Te Rauparaha. Part 2: South Island Raids and the Arrival of the ‘Tory’." Te Ao Hou 31 (1960): 10-14.
- Carkeek writes that after Te Rauparaha asserted his position of pre-eminence along the Horowhenua coastline, he began to look south to the home of Waipounamu. From 1828 he made a number of raids on South Island tribal groups in the Marlborough Province, Kaikoura, Omihi, Kaiapohia and Akaroa. Carkeek discusses the impact of Christianity on the Horowhenua Māori and how by 1839 the emphasis was shifting from warring against other tribes to making peace. Carkeek describes the impact of land sales and settlement of the Porirua area on Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata.
- "Te Rauparaha: Part III: Wairau, the Porirua Quarrel and Imprisonment." Te Ao Hou 32 (1960): 6-11.
- This final part of Carkeek’s essay on Te Rauparaha deals with the shift from Māori supremacy over the land to the increasing dominance of the land hungry settlers. Carkeek vividly describes the Wairoa affair, the disputes in the Hutt Valley and Porirua, and the events leading up to Te Rauparaha’s imprisonment on H.M.S. Calliope.
Traditional
- The Kapiti Coast: Māori Tribal History and Place Names. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1966. Rpt. Christchurch, N.Z.: Capper, 1980.
- In this history of the Māori tribes living along the Kapiti Coastline, Carkeek recounts the tribal legends and traditions of the early Māori inhabitants in the region prior to the influx of other tribes in the 1820s. He discusses Te Rauparaha’s rise to supremacy along the coastline, and the migrations of Ngāti Toa and sub-tribes from Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Raukawa during the 1820s. Carkeek describes Te Rauparaha’s raids on the South Island tribes, the major battles fought at Waiorua, Haowhenua and Kuititanga, the Wairua incident and Te Rauparaha’s imprisonment on the Calliope in 1846. Carkeek assesses the impact of Pakeha settlers and missionaries on the local Māori and writes of the lively trade that existed between the Māori and Pakeha settlers and the disputes over land sales. Carkeek writes of the migration of Wiremu Kingi and Te Ati Awa back to Taranaki, the rise of the Kingite movement and changing loyalties of Otaki Māori to the movement. He provides a chapter on middens along the coastline and a list of place names on the Kapiti Coastline accompanied by explanatory notes and brief histories which extend G. L. Adkin’s work on Māori place names in Horowhenua by listing many place names between Otaki and Paekakariki.
Other
- Taylor, C. R. H. A Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Oxford UP, 1972. 86.