In the ranks of his followers it was firmly believed that Opuhara, few as his forces were, would have won the battle, had not the native missionaries been taught to shoot, as they were taught to pray, and been given guns along with Bibles. The Papara people looked on Opuhara’s death as a sort of assassination by a stranger hired and armed for the purpose. They never could understand the white man’s system either in war or in peace, and never wholly forgave Tati, although they came to see that Tati was a safer guide than Opuhara. As for submission, they had no longer a choice. When Opuhara fell, their last hope perished. His dying words announced the fall of Papara.

"My children, fight to the last! It is noon, and I, Opuhara, the ti of Moua Temaiti, am broken asunder!"

I am told that Opuhara’s spear, "Brotherless Ourihere", is now in the Museum of the Louvre. Even in those days there were among all his warriors only two that could wield it. Among the Tevas he is still regarded as their greatest warrior and hero; and if the missionaries and churches have sometimes doubted whether the natives rightly understood the truths and blessings of Christianity, perhaps one reason may be that the Tevas remembered how the missionaries fought for Pomare and killed Opuhara.

Indigenous Histories