What happened during the Taranaki wars?
The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand’s North Island from March 1860 to March 1861.
What were the causes of the Taranaki wars?
The underlying cause for this long sequence of armed engagements was the settler desire for access to the rich lands of the Taranaki region, and Māori desire to retain the land under their control.
Who was involved in the first Taranaki war?
been the scene of the Taranaki War (1860–61) fought between the Maori and Europeans over the Waitara land purchase.
What happened in the first Taranaki war?
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.
Why did the settlers want Waitara?
Governor Gore Browne was under increasing pressure from New Plymouth settlers concerned about the future of the province. Men with capital were leaving and it was felt that more should be done to support the Māori who were willing to sell land.
Why was the Taranaki war important?
The First Taranaki War (1860-1861) was an event of great significance in New Zealand history. The war concerned the sale of Māori land by a minor Te Ātiawa chief, Te Teira Manuka, to the Crown. The sale was opposed by a senior Te Ātiawa chief, Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke.
What caused the land 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.
Why did British want Māori land?
Reasons why chiefs signed the treaty included wanting controls on sales of Māori land to Europeans, and on European settlers. They also wanted to trade with Europeans, and believed the new relationship with Britain would stop fighting between tribes.
How long did the Taranaki land wars last?
However Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, a more senior chief, denied that Teira had the right to sell the Waitara land, and war broke out there in March 1860. Taranaki experienced a series of conflicts over the next 21 years.
How did the first Taranaki war 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.
How Whaitara got its name?
The commonly accepted meaning of the name Waitara is “mountain stream”, though Maori legend also states that it was originally Whai-tara—”path of the dart”. In 1867 the settlement was named Raleigh, after Sir Walter Raleigh. It reverted to its former name with the establishment of the borough of Waitara in 1904.
How did the Taranaki wars end?
What was the significance of the First Taranaki War?
The First Taranaki War (1860-1861) was an event of great significance in New Zealand history. The event took place in Taranaki, hence its name, yet its effects were felt throughout New Zealand and notably in Te Tau Ihu . The First Taranaki War was a serious conflict over land rights in early settler New Zealand.
When did the Taranaki iwi lose their land?
Register Now! The loss of Taranaki ancestral land began following British settlement after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
When did Browne declare martial law in Taranaki?
When Māori obstructed surveyors as they began work on the block, Browne responded by declaring martial law throughout Taranaki on 22 February 1860. Two days later a deed for the sale of the disputed Pekapeka block was executed, with 20 Māori signatories of Te Teira’s family accepted as representing all owners of the land.
Where did the first New Zealand war take place?
New Zealand Wars. The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand’s North Island from March 1860 to March 1861.