What is "ruapani"

Ruapani was a rangatira ( chief) of the Māori in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (the Poverty Bay-region on the East Coast of New Zealand) in the 15th and 16th century.

He is said to have been the paramount chief of all the Tūranganui-a-Kiwa tribes around 1525. His influence was large, it extended into the Ruakituri Valley and the Whakapūnaki district as far as the Huiarau Range beyond Lake Waikaremoana.