Big Causes of Taranaki War

8/2/2019 Big Causes of Taranaki War

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Untitled (Omata Stockade) (circa 1869), Henry Freer Rawson, Watercolour & pencil on

paper. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A65.890)



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O u r l e g a c y - O u r c h a l l e n g e

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 acentralised system of government which

gave itself increasing authority to act

with force against the other.

Introduction



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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 Māoripoint 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, 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 introducedmuskets 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 anumber of others were

captured and held as ransom.

After two weeks Jacky and

several other men werereleased 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, 1984Registration 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




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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 toland 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




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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 invadedTaranaki 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 behindto maintain the tribal ahi kā, or tribalpresence 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 protectingtwo scribes at a table.

Of the remaining iwi left at Ngāmotu, early settlers wanted their land and sodrew 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 totake up arms, and he caved.

In what could almost be seen as a treaty, Māori agreedto 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 colonialadministrators into finding more land.

Governor FitzRoy




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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)




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Untitled (Merton, New Plymouth) (circa 1855), James Crowe Richmond

Oil 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 eventsoccurred:

The formation of the Māori land League and

1854 hui at Manawapou, south Taranaki.

Re-occupation of their own land in order to use

and assert their rights over it, e.g. at Waitara.

A Māori King, Pōtatau, 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.




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Taihoa! Stop!

It’s time to digest some of

this information.

Turn to your worksheet and

work through the tasks next

to Taiaha #1.



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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 people, led by paramount chief Wiremu Kīngi te Rangitaake.

What happened at Waitara

Satellite image of Waitara today. Google.



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In 1859, Te Teira, another local Te

Ātiawa chief, offered to sell the

Pekapeka Block (Waitara) to the

Crown (an offer he had made on a

number of earlier occasions).

Many other Māori objected to the

sale, including Wiremu Kīngi who hadgreater authority than Te Teira.

Approximately 2000 Māori were living

on the block at the time.

Crown officials knew Te Rangitaake

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



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This map is extremely detailed,

showing nearly two hundred

owners. Only about a tenth of theblock is shown as belonging to

Teira and the sellers.

The Pekapeka 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 atWaitara which sparked unrest. Auckland City Libraries



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Plan of Peka Peka Block Waitara

(1860). Drawn by J.F. Berry, 1939 fromPlan no. 104. Paper mounted on linenCollection 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 theGovernment would accept any offer of land from

any individual Māori who wished to sell.

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

authority must not be permitted to usurp the

authority of the Crown.

Therefore, the Waitara 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 beingsold – 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 childrenremoved 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 Militia and the Taranaki Rifle

Volunteers, to occupy the disputed block of land at Waitara in preparationfor 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 Waitara

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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Kīngi and his men built Te

Kohia, an L-shaped pā, on the

southern side of the PekapekaBlock 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 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,

Waitara, in 1860 by the Taranaki Mounted Volunteers. Sarten and two

unidentified figures on horseback reach for the red flag at Te Kohia Pā

(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 & watercolouron 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 settlerswho 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 position on the sale?

Why did Gore Browne attack the pa?

Was Te Teira eligible to sell the Pekapeka

Block?



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Taihoa! Stop!

It’s time to digest some of

this information.

Turn to your worksheet and

work through the tasks next

to Taiaha #2.



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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

From: The New ZealandRailways Magazine,

Volume 10, Issue 2(May 1, 1935), NZETC.



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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 onpaper. 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 land

b) The New Zealand Company was dishonest

c) The iwi were so busy fighting each other, war against

them was inevitable

d) 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



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c h a l l e n g e References

1. The First Taranaki War Wikipedia entry

2. Land Wars Star over Pekapeka Block , by Virginia Winder, Puke Ariki Treasure

Link3. The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi , accessed from www.waitangi-

tribunal.govt.nz

4. 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.

http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/





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Big Causes of Taranaki War

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