The 19th century was a momentous and bloody time in New Zealand history. First came the European settlers, right after the turn of the century (Phillips, 2013). The settlers brought many goods with them to trade with the native Maori people, but none had an impact quite like the musket. The first Maori tribe to obtain a large amount of muskets was the Ngapuhi tribe, located north of Auckland (Belich, p.20). They used the firearms to gain land and settle old conflicts, which led to an arms race between all of the Maori people of the nation, called the Musket Wars (p. 20). The New Zealand Wars, which roughly lasted from 1845-1872, were a series of conflicts between the Maori people and the British- both Imperial and colonial forces- over sovereignty of the land in the North Island (New Zealand’s 19th-century wars, 2012). These wars reached their peak in the 1860s, in the regions of Taranaki and Waikato.
After the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and multiple misunderstandings regarding its terms, tensions began to rise between the Maori people and the British colonists. Heke’s Rebellion in 1845 caused fighting to break out between the two in cities across the North Island, and it continued on until 1847. Tensions then settled a bit, but the 1850s “brought uneasy peace” (New Zealand’s 19th-century wars, 2012). At the end of the 1850s, it was decided that a Maori King would be crowned, to unite the tribes, protect the land from being sold, and to make laws for the Maori people. In 1958, Potatau Te Wherowhero was named as the first Maori King (Te, p.182). Before becoming King, Te Wherowhero was a Waikato chief, and a renowned warrior- in one battle at Taranaki in 1820, he was said to have killed 50 warriors in a single duel (p.103). Te Wherowhero was only King for a short time, before passing away from old age on June 25, 1860 (p. 276). His son, Tawhiao, took over the reign as King following his father’s death (p. 231).
In March of 1860, war broke out again in the Taranaki region, when the town of New Plymouth tried to expand their territory into Maori land (Belich, p.78). Fighting continued for a year before a truce was signed, with crucial battles at Puketekauere, Mahoetahi, and Te Arei (Keenan, The New Zealand Wars). Despite the truce, the main issue of sovereignty remained unsolved, hundreds of British soldiers and settlers (and even more Maoris) had perished, and the local economy was in shambles (New Zealand’s 19th-century wars, 2012). The truce didn’t last long, and war broke out again in 1863, starting in Taranaki and moving south into the Waikato region. George Grey, the governor of New Zealand at the time, issued an ultimatum to the Kingitanga (or Maori King Movement) and other Maori people of Waikato, demanding that they “submit without reserve to the British Queen” and that by acting against the Crown, they would forfeit their “right to the possession of their lands guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi” (Invasion plans, 2013). Before the Maori people had even received the ultimatum, Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron and his army began to invade Waikato. The most decisive battle of the war was in November of 1863 at Rangiriri, where Cameron and 1400 British soldiers attacked the Maori defensive line, which consisted of only 500 warriors (Belich, p.144). After many hours of fighting, the Maoris raised a white flag and the British took it as surrender (p.154). Both sides lost about 40 men in the battle. Several more British victories followed, and the Waikato War came to an end in April 1864, after the Battle of Orakau (p. 176).
The Maori’s comparatively small population was their biggest disadvantage throughout the New Zealand Wars. The British army totaled 18,000 men throughout the course of the wars (Belich, p. 126), while the Maori warriors numbered only 4,000 (p.128). In the early 19th century, the total Maori population in New Zealand was between 100,000 and 150,000 (Ryan & Parnham, p.1). But by the end of the 1860s, toward the end of the New Zealand Wars, they numbered only about 60,000; meanwhile the Europeans settlers had grown to almost 250,000 (Prickett, p.13). In addition to the staggering population loss, the Maoris also lost about half of their land, as a result of the wars. In 1860, the Maori people held over 23 million acres, or 80% of the land on the North Island, and by 1890, that number had been reduced to approximately 11.6 million acres (Maori land loss, 2013). Since then, the Maori population stabilized and has actually increased drastically in recent years- with just under 600,000 people in 2006 (Pool me Tahu Kukutai, 2014), but they have continued to lose land, estimated to hold only 4% of the North Island’s acreage in 2000 (Maori land loss, 2013).
The wars of the 1860s were crucial to the development of New Zealand as a nation for several reasons. They established British sovereignty over a majority of the lands, and the publicity the nation received increased the immigration rates from Europe and Australia. Also, despite being defeated in the wars, the Maori proved themselves to be a proud and powerful race that would not be overlooked and tossed aside by the colonists, and this eventually led to their assimilation and prosperity into modern New Zealand society. Both sides gained admiration and respect for the other over the course of the wars- a veneration that has survived to this day.
References
Belich, J. (1986). The New Zealand wars and the Victorian interpretation of racial conflict. Auckland: Auckland University Press.
Keenan, D. (2014, February 26). New Zealand wars. Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
Keenan, D. (n.d.). The New Zealand Wars. Retrieved from http://www.newzealandwars.co.nz/index.html
Ministry for Culture and Heritage (2013, September 2). Maori land loss, 1860-2000 | NZHistory, New Zealand history online. Retrieved from http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/maori-land-1860-2000
Ministry for Culture and Heritage (2013, July 10). Invasion plans - war in Waikato | NZHistory, New Zealand history online. Retrieved from http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/war-in-waikato/invasion-plans
New Zealand's 19th-century wars - overview | NZHistory, New Zealand history online. (2012, December 20). Retrieved from http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealands-19th-century-wars/introduction
Phillips, J. (2013, August 21). 1. Early years – History of immigration – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history-of-immigration/page-1
Pool me Tahu Kukutai, I. (2014, April 2). Māori population, 1841–2006 – Taupori Māori – Māori population change – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/31311/maori-population-1841-2006
Prikett, N. (2002). Landscapes of conflict: A field guide to the New Zealands wars. Glenfield, Auckland: Random House New Zealand.
Ryan, T., & Parnham, B. (2002). The Colonial New Zealand Wars (2nd ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: Grantham House Publishing.
Te, H. P. (2010). King Potatau: An Account of the Life of Potatau te Wherowhero the First Maori King. Carterton, New Zealand: Huia (NZ) Ltd.
Whakapapa Productions (2005). Start of the New Zealand Wars [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://history.tearapoutama.ac.nz/images/uploads/start_of_the_new_zealand_wars.mov
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