Hone Tuwhare - Early Years

Early Years

Hone Tuwhare was born in Kaikohe, Northland, into the Nga Puhi tribe (hapu Ngati Korokoro, Ngati Tautahi, Te Popoto, Uri-o-hau). Following the death of his mother, his family shifted to Auckland, where Hone attended primary schools in Avondale, Mangere and Ponsonby. He commenced a boilermaker apprenticeship with the New Zealand Railways and had to attend night classes in Mathematics, Trade Drawing and Trade Theory which he did at Seddon Memorial Technical College in Auckland (1939–41), and Otahuhu College (1941). Tuwhare spoke Māori until he was about 9, and his father, an accomplished orator and storyteller, encouraged his son’s interest in the written and spoken word, especially in the rhythms and imagery of the Old Testament.