Parengaope was a high chieftainess of the Ngati Koura

Ngati Koura

The Ngāti Koura are a sub-tribe or hapu of the Bay of Plenty tribes of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand.Two marae are traditionally associated with Ngāti Koura: Otenuku and Te Papakainga. Otenuku marae is the site of Te Tapuwae, a cemetery in which many tribal chiefs of the Tuhoe iwi are...

, a Māori tribe. She was the wife of Te Rauangaanga

Te Rauangaanga

Te Rauangaanga, , was a chief of the Ngati Mahuta hapu of the Waikato tribe and principal war chief of the tribes of the Waikato region of northern New Zealand...

 and mother of Te Wherowhero

Potatau Te Wherowhero

Pōtatau I, Māori King was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato tribes, the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known as simply Te Wherowhero and took the name Pōtatau after he became king...

, the first Māori king

Maori King Movement

The Māori King Movement or Kīngitanga is a movement that arose among some of the Māori tribes of New Zealand in the central North Island ,in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the colonising people, the British, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land...

. Parengaope was born at Te Rapa Pa near present day Hamilton. She was a direct descendant of Hotumauea, a noted War chief of Ngati Koura who was an outstanding warrior who acquired vast tracts of land within the Waikato basin. Parengaope was present during the battle of Matakitaki in 1822 near Pirongia when the musket armed northern Ngapuhi tribes under Hongi Hika attacked the Waikato tribes. Parengaope escaped along with other members of Potatau's family during the attack upon Matakitaki.