What is the Pekapeka block?
Victoria University’s Peter Adds says the Pekapeka block is hugely significant in the nation’s history. “It’s the place where the New Zealand Wars started”, says Adds. “It’s the place where the original dispute arose and it was a dispute about the purchase of that land by the Crown from Te Ātiawa,” he says.
What happened in the Battle of Waitara?
17 March 1860 The opening shots of the first Taranaki War were fired when British troops attacked a pā built by Te Āti Awa chief Te Rangitāke at Te Kohia, Waitara. A minor chief, Te Teira Mānuka, had offered to sell Governor Thomas Gore Browne land in 1859.
Who fought in the Taranaki war?
been the scene of the Taranaki War (1860–61) fought between the Maori and Europeans over the Waitara land purchase.
Who is Te Teira Manuka?
Te Teira was the chief of the Puke-Kowhatu branch of the Te Atiawa tribe. Teira and his people sold to the Crown the block of land at Waitara.
What did Te Teira Manuka do?
Page 1 – Introduction. In 1859 the minor Te Ātiawa chief Te Teira Manuka offered to sell land at Waitara in north Taranaki to the Crown. The government accepted the offer and Pākehā settlers looked forward to expanding their small enclave around New Plymouth.
Why did the Waitara war happen?
Wiremu Kīngi’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. Governor Gore Browne was under increasing pressure from New Plymouth settlers concerned about the future of the province.
How did the Taranaki wars end?
End of the war Attacks against the trenches were repulsed. The last shots were fired on 18 March 1861, when the war in North Taranaki finally ended with a truce negotiated by senior Kīngitanga figure Wiremu Tāmihana, who did not want the war to extend into the Waikato.
Why did the Taranaki war end?
The war ended in a ceasefire, with neither side explicitly accepting the peace terms of the other. Although there were claims by the British that they had won the war, there were widely held views at the time they had suffered an unfavourable and humiliating result. Historians have also been divided on the result.
What caused the New Zealand wars?
War dominated the North Island in the 1860s. The causes of the conflict have been much debated, but settler hunger for land and the government’s desire to impose real sovereignty over Māori were key factors.
Who won the Waikato war?
British victory
The Waikato is a territorial region with a northern boundary somewhat south of the present-day city of Auckland. The campaign lasted for nine months, from July 1863 to April 1864….Invasion of the Waikato.
| Date | 12 July 1863 – April 1864 |
|---|---|
| Location | Waikato, New Zealand |
| Result | British victory |
Who won the Taranaki war?
Historians have also been divided on the result. Historian James Belich has claimed that the Māori succeeded in thwarting the British bid to impose sovereignty over them, and had therefore been victorious. But he said the Māori victory was a hollow one, leading to the invasion of the Waikato.
Who won the Waikato War?
What was the Pekapeka block?
War broke out in North Taranaki in March 1860. The issue over which the war commenced was a block of land, called the Pekapeka Block, now for the most part covered by the township of Waitara in North Taranaki.
Should the Pekapeka be returned to Waitara?
My tupuna are saying to me: ‘Do not sell the Pekapeka.’ The lands in Waitara were stolen illegally, and they should be returned to those they belonged to, and they should not be required to buy it back.”
What happened in the Taranaki Wars?
On 17 March 1860, that’s exactly what happened. That day, Te Rangitaake and about 80 warriors quickly constructed Te Kohia pā, known as the L pā, on the western side of the Pekapeka block above Waitara. They occupied the pā and refused to budge. Shots were fired. The result – the Taranaki Wars had begun.
How many Māori died when Te rangitāke abandoned his pā?
No Māori had been killed by the time Te Rangitāke and his 70 men abandoned the pā that night. Māori often constructed L-shaped pā in the 1860s to provoke attack by the British. Though durable, they could be built quickly and so were expendable.