Pepene Eketone (ca. 1856 – 9 November 1933) was a New Zealand interpreter, native agent, assessor and politician. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He was born in Taranaki, New Zealand in circa 1856.[1]

He sometimes used an English name, which was based on missionaries, and was thus known as Fairburn Eggleston or Fairburn Eccleston.[1] The official return for the 1931 election lists him as Pepene Tango Eketone;[2] the middle name is not mentioned in his Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.[1]

Eketone was politically active and contested his first general election in 1887, when he stood in the Western Maori electorate; he came third out of five candidates.[3][4] In the 1890 election, he came second after the incumbent, Hoani Taipua.[5] In the 1896 election, he was one of 13 candidates in the Western Maori electorate and came seventh.[6]

He had one last (unsuccessful) attempt of getting elected in the Western Maori electorate in the 1931 general election;[1] of the six candidates, he came fourth.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Ballara, Angela. "Pepene Eketone". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  2. ^ a b The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  3. ^ "The Maori Election". The Star. No. 6036. 19 September 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  4. ^ "The Maori Election". The Evening Post. Vol. XXXIV, no. 69. 19 September 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Telegrams". Inangahua Times. Vol. XV, no. 20887. 1 December 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Untitled". Poverty Bay Herald. Vol. XXIV, no. 7816. 4 January 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 16 January 2014.