Kotore was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi in the Wairoa area of Hawke Bay of New Zealand.
Kotore offered his daughter Hinepehinga in marriage to his distant cousin Te Whatuiāpiti, the dominant chieftain in the Heretaunga region, as a peace offering, but she avoided sleeping with him because she was in love with another man, so he abandoned the marriage without ill will and returned to Heretaunga without her.
[3] Shortly before he was killed he was brought into the presence of Apanui and said in dismay, E hoa, ko te weriweri ai ka takoto ai au ki roto ki to puku ("My friend, you're an ugly man, for me to end up in your stomach!").
When Apanui asked who was better looking than him, Kotore pointed to his two sons, who had been captured and were about to be executed and said Ara, kia pera me nga tukemata-nui o Kahungunu e arahina mai ra ("Over there - be like the great eyebrows of Kahungunu which are being led towards us").
[3] The death of Kotore and his sons was finally avenged by his great-grandson Te-O-Tane at the Battle of Whawhapō.