Untitled (Omata Stockade) (circa 1869), Henry Freer Rawson, Watercolour & pencil on paper. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A65.890)

2

It is important to understand that during this time in New Zealand’s

history, there was a meeting of two races of people, one of whom had a centralised system of government

which gave itself increasing authority to act with force against the other.

Introduction

3

Bushrangers Redoubt and Camp at Wai-iti, Pukearuhe District (1871)Francis Hamar Arden, Watercolour & pencil on paper. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A58.490)

The war was not simply a war between Māori and Pākehā. There were Māori on both sides, and many Pākehā advocated a Māori point of view

Even some military officers were opposed to what was happening, the commander of the Imperial forces eventually resigning his office in protest. In effect, the war was about sovereignty, or tino rangatiratanga (tee-nor rung-a-tee-ra-ta-ngah), not race.

Introduction

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The first Europeans to come by Taranaki were sealers and traders. On voyages between Cook Strait and Hobart or Sydney from the 1820s they stopped and traded goods and food with Māori. This was at first usually a welcome arrangement on both sides.

However, Europeans introduced muskets and this added a new element to some inter iwi conflict.

A musket (circa 1820s-1830s) Tower Armouries, Steel, wood, brass, Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A76.878)

Some devastating battles resulted.

The Europeans Arrive

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Despite the trade there was early conflict as well.

In 1834 the ship the Harriet wrecked on the Taranaki coast. On board – whaler Jacky Guard, his wife Betty, and their two children. The Guards and a number of others were captured and held as ransom.

After two weeks Jacky and several other men were released on the understanding that they would return with a cask of gunpowder as ransom for the rest of the party. (Betty Guard) Silhouette; circa 1830

Cut paper silhouette with details painted in white pigment, framed and glazed

Gift of the Guard family, 1984 Registration number: GH003416

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

The Harriet Affair

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Māori soon had to defend their land from unscrupulous land dealers from Britain and within New Zealand.

The New Zealand Company rushed to New Zealand to stake some land claims in various parts of the country, which they then hoped to divide up and onsell to new settlers at a profit.

More and more settlers came…

Image: New Zealand Company. Deed of Purchase. The Plymouth Company Charter, an example of a land title drawn up between the Plymouth Company and the New Zealand Company over land in the New Plymouth region.Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth ARC2001-382

The Europeans Arrive

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The New Plymouth Company settlers began arriving in 1841, to find that the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed and that their claim to land was by no means certain.

By 1843 there were over 1000 settlers keen to come to New Zealand, unaware of what they were coming into.

View of ‘Brooklands’ the Residence of Henry King, Esq. R.N. In the book An Account of the Settlement of New Plymouth, by Charles Hursthouse , 1849. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth TRCT993.982HUR

The Europeans Arrive

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Meanwhile, Taranaki iwi had been having their own troubles.

During the 1820 -30s, in what has become known as the ‘Musket Wars’, Waikato tribes had invaded Taranaki and so many Taranaki iwi had migrated south to Kāpiti, Wellington and the top of the South Island displacing other iwi already living there.

A smaller remnant remained behind to maintain the tribal ahi kā, or tribal presence in Taranaki.

Taranaki Māori

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This shows an image of a man called William Spain who was to investigate the New Plymouth Charter.

A group of Māori and Pākehā are gathered before a raupō/reed building with a canvas awning protecting two scribes at a table.

Of the remaining iwi left at Ngāmotu, early settlers wanted their land and so drew up a charter to purchase land in the area, (the New Plymouth Charter)

but all was not well with this…

Mr Spain investigating the Land Claims at New Plymouth. (Mt Eliot. June 1844) (circa 1844) Edwin

Harris, Ink, pencil & Chinese White on paper, mounted on cardboard. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A75.441)

It’s all about land…

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A new Governor – FitzRoy – didn’t agree that the Ngāmotu purchase was valid, but settlers threatened to take up arms, and he caved.

In what could almost be seen as a treaty, Māori agreed to transfer the New Plymouth FitzRoy block on condition settlers expanded no further.

Many Māori were quite happy to live peacefully with settlers as long as they settled within agreed

territories.

However, the NZ Company kept on-selling more land that they believed they had a claim to and bringing more settlers, pressuring the colonial

administrators into finding more land.

Governor FitzRoy

It’s all about land…

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Frustrated settlers, anxious to start their own farms negotiated independent land sales with individual Māori who were willing to sell tribal land.

But, by the late 1840s…

Wiremu Kīngi te Rangitaake a high-ranking chief of Te Ātiawa, who had been part of the migration south in the 1820s, started to lead his people back up north to Taranaki in 1848.

Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitaake (circa 1846-1847), unknown photographer, original photograph.

Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2002-442)

It’s all about land…

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Untitled (Merton, New Plymouth) (circa 1855), James Crowe RichmondOil on canvas . Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (TM.2002.121)

An early settler’s cottage.Note the land being cleared and the cow already in the paddock

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With all these land-hungry settlers, Māori began to strategise about how to deal with the increasing incursion on their land. The following events occurred:

The formation of the Māori land League and 1854 hui (who-ee) at Manawapou (ma-nah-wah-poh), south Taranaki (tah-rah-nah-key).Re-occupation of their own land in order to use and assert their rights over it, e.g. at Waitara (why – tah - rah).A Māori King, Pōtatau (Poor-tah-toe), was appointed to negotiate issues directly with the Pākehā Queen.

Crown officials – and some settlers – felt threatened by these moves.

The King movement was interpreted by some Crown officials as treasonous. Their view was that Māori already had a Queen that they had signed up to in 1840 when the Treaty was signed.

King Pōtatau, the first Māori king.

It’s all about land…

14

Taihoa! (Tie-hoar-ah) Stop!

It’s time to digest some of this information.

Turn to your worksheet and work through the tasks

next to Taiaha (tie-ah-ha) #1.

15

Waitara had been cleared and developed by generations of Māori, and was also a piece of land much coveted by the settlers.

By the late 1850s it had been occupied and profitably worked by its Te Ātiawa (Teh Ah-tee-ah-wah) people, led by paramount chief Wiremu Kīngi te Rangitaake (Wee-reh-moo King-ee Teh Rah-ngee-tah-keh).

What happened at Waitara (why-tah-rah)

Satellite image of Waitara today. Google.

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In 1859, Te Teira (Teh Tie-rah), another local Te Ātiawa (Teh Ah-tee-ah-wah) chief, offered to sell the Pekapeka (peh-ka peh-ka) Block (Waitara) (why-tah-rah) to the Crown (an offer he had made on a number of earlier occasions).

Many other Māori objected to the sale, including Wiremu Kīngi (Wee-reh-moo King-ee) who had greater authority than Te Teira (Teh Tie-rah). Approximately 2000 Māori were living on the block at the time.

Crown officials knew Te Rangitaake (Teh Rah-ngee-tah-ah-keh) had a

customary right to oppose the sale.Chief Te Teira (date unknown)Unknown photographer. Reproduction of carte-de-visite. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2008-1759)

Enter Te Teira (Teh Tie-rah)

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This map is extremely detailed, showing nearly two hundred owners. Only about a tenth of the block is shown as belonging to Teira (tie-rah) and the sellers.

The Pekapeka (peh-ka-peh-ka) block

Map of Pekapeka block. Map sent by Featherston to Grey. Drawn by two Māori, one with survey experience and approved by Te Patukakariki, 29 August 1861.Sent to Colonial Office, CO 209/165, Grey to Newcastle, 6

December 1861. From: K. Sinclair. Origins of the Maori Wars, NZUP, 1961. Appendix A. Disputed land at Waitara which sparked unrest. Auckland City Libraries

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Plan of Peka Peka Block Waitara (1860). Drawn by J.F. Berry, 1939 from Plan no. 104. Paper mounted on linen Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (ARC2005-80)

This shows the survey ordered by Governor Gore Browne and the land area known as Teira's block, 1860.

The Pekapeka block

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The Governor, Thomas Gore Browne, then announced a new Government policy - that the

Government would accept any offer of land from any individual Māori who wished to sell.

No Māori of supposed rank or customary status would be permitted to obstruct this policy.

Māori authority must not be permitted to usurp the authority of the Crown.

Therefore, the Waitara (why-tah-rah) sale would go through, provided Te Teira's title to

the land could be confirmed.

The Pekapeka block

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Kīngi and Governor Gore Browne argued over the issue through letters. Kīngi still vetoed (opposed) the sale. The Governor sent in surveyors anyway.

“I do not agree to our bedroom being sold – I mean Waitara, for this bed belongs to the whole of us; and do

not you be in haste to give the money. “

Wiremu Kīngi in a letter to Gore Browne.

Governor Gore Browne Image: Wikipedia Commons

Dispute

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A small group of Pākehā, including missionaries, stood with Māori and remained vocal against the Waitara

purchase and its legitimacy.

Māori women and children removed the surveying pegs each night.

In this illustration from the School Journal (1978) you can see the women pulling up the survey pegs and the surveyors and settlers in distress.

Government officials eventually threatened war, and carried out the

threat.

School Journal Illustration by Cliff Whiting, 1978 Courtesy of: Learning Media, Ministry of Education

Dispute

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On 4 March 1860, Gore Browne ordered Colonel Charles Emilius Gold, commanding the 65th Regiment, the Taranaki (Tah-rah-nah-key) Militia and the Taranaki Rifle Volunteers, to occupy the disputed block of land at Waitara (why-tah-rah) in preparation for a survey. Four hundred men landed at Waitara the next day to fortify a position and the surveying of the land began .

British Positions at the Mouth of the WaitaraFrom The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume I (1845–64), James Cowan, 1955. The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.

Conflict

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Kīngi and his men built Te Kohia (Teh Core-hee-ah), an L-shaped pā, on the southern side of the Pekapeka Block on 15 March, after a warning by Gold about a previous pā he built on 5 March.

They then uprooted the surveyors' boundary markers and the next day, 17 March, when ordered to surrender, they refused.

Gold's troops opened fire.Plan of the Pekapeka Block, Waitara — (Inset, Te Kohia pa, called the “L” pa from its shape.)From The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori

Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume I (1845–64), James Cowan, 1955. The New Zealand

Electronic Text Centre.

Conflict

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The British believed it would be an easy victory, decisively asserting their sovereignty over Māori.

They were wrong.

They started firing on the pā during the afternoon of 17 March 1860 and the following morning found it abandoned. Kīngi ’s (King-ee) men simply left the

pā, leaving the British firing on nothing.

This would be an ongoing pattern to the battles in the First Taranaki War, Māori strategy outwitting

the British over and over again.

War

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This sketch is a modern interpretation of the attack of Te Kohia Pā (Teh Core-hee-ah Pa), Waitara (why-tah-rah), in 1860 by the Taranaki Mounted Volunteers. Sarten and two unidentified figures on horseback reach for the red flag at Te Kohia Pā (Teh Core-hee-ah Pa) (known as the "L" pā due to its layout). On the horizon are colonial troops and weaponry including canons.

Sarten et al, 1860 (circa 1980). Murray Moorhead. Ink & watercolour on paper. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A97.014)

War

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Within days, Māori war parties retaliated and attacked the farms south of New Plymouth, killing six settlers who had not taken refuge in the town. Fearing an attack on New Plymouth was imminent, the British withdrew from Waitara and concentrated around New Plymouth.

Recap:

War

What was Kīngi ’s (king-ee) position on the sale?

Why did Gore Browne attack the pa?

Was Te Teira (Teh Tie-rah) eligible to sell the Pekapeka (Peh-ka peh-ka) Block?

27

Taihoa! (Tie-hoar-ah) Stop!

It’s time to digest some of this information.

Turn to your worksheet and work through the tasks

next to Taiaha (tie-ah-ha) #2.

28

The next engagement, the ‘Battle of Waireka’ on 28 March, was a badly coordinated attempt by regular troops and local militia to rescue settlers south of New Plymouth.

Though most of the settlers were saved, Waireka was not the victory that the Governor claimed.

The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

The Battle of Waireka (why-reh-ka)

From: The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 2 (May 1, 1935), NZETC.

29

Far from being over quickly, it was soon apparent that the war would be a prolonged encounter.

Civilians were to be targeted as well. Just as Māori attacked settlers and burned their homes, the military attacked Māori villages and productive Māori farms, leaving defended pā untouched.

Bell Block Stockade (circa 1860)John Skinner. Watercolour & pencil on paper. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A65.902)

The war continues…

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The First Taranaki War lasted a year.

Māori could generally not have all their forces mobilised at once, as fighters were also needed at home to work the land, tend crops, etc. So they took it in shifts to fight.

The British on the other hand had ultimately a much larger human resource capacity, and were able to ship in more and more soldiers.

Nonetheless they could not obtain a decisive victory. Settler support diminished for the War.

The war continues…

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1. How were the circumstances that led up to the battle at Waitara as much a product of Crown policy as anything else?

2. What do you think was at the heart of the matter?3. Discuss why the two different chiefs from the same iwi

disagreed about whether or not to sell the land at Waitara.4. Wars and battles rarely start overnight. Describe the

sequence of events that led up to the start of the Taranaki Wars.

5. Debate the following statements:a) It was all about greedy settlers wanting landb) The New Zealand Company was dishonestc) The iwi were so busy fighting each other, war against

them was inevitabled) The Crown authorities of the time didn’t really support

the Māori .

The answers to these questions will make good notes for your future use.

Questions for discussion

32

References

1. The First Taranaki War Wikipedia entry2. Land Wars Star over Pekapeka Block, by Virginia Winder, Puke Ariki

Treasure Link3. The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi, accessed from

www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz4. Chapter12: Te Muru me te Raupatu: the Aftermath, in Ancestral Landscapes

of Taranaki in Taranaki Whenua: Life Blood Legacy. by Peter Adds, New Plymouth, Puke Ariki Museum, 2008.

5. Taranaki War 1860-2010: Te Ahi Kā Roa, Te Ahi Kātoro, exhibition notes, Puke Ariki Museum, New Plymouth.