In the 1980s James Belich argued that Tītokowaru’s war had become a ‘dark secret’ of New Zealand history, ‘forgotten by the Pākehā as a child forgets a nightmare’. For Belich, Tītokowaru was ‘arguably the best general New Zealand has ever produced’.
Te Kooti was one of the most significant Māori leaders of the 19th century. For nearly four years he waged a guerrilla war unlike any previous conflict in the New Zealand Wars. His influence continues to be felt in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast, where his Ringatū faith remains strong.
During the first half of 1864 the focus of the New Zealand Wars shifted from Waikato to Tauranga. In this phase of the conflict British forces suffered a catastrophic defeat at Pukehinahina – better known as the Gate Pā – but later inflicted heavy losses on Māori forces at Te Ranga.
There are more than 60 memorials in New Zealand to the dead of the New Zealand Wars. But their story is strikingly different to that of the memorials put up in memory of those who died in the country’s other major conflicts
In March 1860 war broke out between Europeans and Māori in Taranaki following a dispute over the sale of land at Waitara. It was the beginning of a series of conflicts that would dog Taranaki for the next 21 years, claiming the lives of several hundred Maori and Europeans and leaving deep scars that persist to the present day.
In 1846 fighting broke out in the Wellington region as the Ngati Toa chief Te Rangihaeata backed local Maori opposed to European settlement in the Hutt Valley. The campaign claimed few lives and Ngati Toa resistance in the region was effectively ended as a result.
War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Tens of thousands of Maori died in the intertribal Musket Wars from the 1810s to the 1830s. There were fewer deaths during the New Zealand Wars (1840s–70s) between Maori and the Crown, but the consequences were still dire for many tribes.
Like his father, King Tawhiao opposed the war in Taranaki. The government, however, remained unconvinced. In July 1860 Governor Gore Browne sought to isolate the Kingitanga and its supporters when he invited about 200 chiefs to a conference at Kohimarama near Auckland.
The invasion of the Waikato united the various factions within the Kingitanga, and during the war Kingitanga forces had some victories despite being overwhelmed in terms of manpower and resources.
The Ngāi Te Rangi leader Rāwiri Puhirake had resisted Wiremu Tāmihana’s request for help during the war in Waikato for fear that this would lead to bloodshed in Tauranga. The arrival of British troops in his territory caused him to reconsider his neutrality.
Tītokowaru proclaimed 1867 as ‘the year of the daughters … the year of the lamb’. His efforts for ‘reconciliation and peace’ were quite remarkable, given the events of the previous two years.
Wiremu Kingi's opposition to the Crown's attempts to purchase land near the mouth of the Waitara River in north Taranaki in 1859 led to the outbreak of war in March 1860
