The Waikato Campaign.

Greys intention was always to destroy the base of the King. That meant advancing into the Waikato and attacking him in his Turangawaiwai. His motives were simple. Remove the King and he would remove the one obstacle to establishing (his) hegemony over the country. Colonial Administrators wanted more. Much, much, more.

Russell and Whitaker dominated the Government but also had a personal reason for wanting to invade and confiscate Maori land.Their small cabal of investors were envious of the Maori farms which supplied Auckland and the Australian colonies with produce.

They saw great potential if this land could be acquired cheaply (Confiscation is about as cheap as you can get) and then sold at a profit to the ever growing number of settlers arriving in the colony. Maori farms remained communally owned and the Waikato was the seat of the Kingite ‘Land League’ which stubbornly refused to become alienated from any more of its land.

The Settler Government acquired the £3m loan which paid for the arrival of the ‘Fencibles’, militia who would be paid for their service to the Government with grants of land in the confiscated areas, fulfilling two goals. This force meant the Settler government could show that they were playing their part in the war as well as providing a long term force capable of mobilisation at a moments notice (The NZ version of the Minute men?).

The invasion itself went slowly. General Cameron was a professional soldier who had a distinguished career, he was expected to crush the Kingites in short order. The Great South Road made it easy for him to shift men and supplies to the Waikato but not into it. Progress was slow and made even slower by Maori attacks on the fringes of Auckland. This necessitated leaving soldiers behind to protect both Auckland and the supply lines. It took three months to reach Meremere.In some respects Maori tactics had been to successful.

A force of 1500 warriors had erected the Meremere line and waited patiently for the British to arrive. But 3 months was to long and many had been forced to return home, leaving a force to small to defend the fortifications. After a brief fire-fight, which included Maori use of artillery, the defenders melted back into the forest and Cameron marched on.

To Rangiriri, which was again a massive set of fortifications (amongst the worlds largest according to Belich) which ran between the river and a Lake forcing the British to attack head on. Because they controlled the river they were able to land troops behind the line and attack from both sides. Despite this advantage the Maori held out, repulsing several attacks at least one of which reached the central redoubt before being pushed back.

The next morning under what the Maori claimed was a flag of truce, the British captured 180 Maori, the rump of the army that had initially been prepared to fight them – the rest had again disappeared. Not surprisingly within 18 months almost all of these prisoners had escaped.Cameron marched on.

He captured the empty Ngaruawahia, capital of the King. He then reached a third line of fortifications. This was the Paterangi line, even bigger than those at Rangiriri. Intelligence said this was defended by a far larger force than at the previous battle. If a few defenders could hold him back there what could a larger force in better prepared positions do? Cameron decided to repeat his tactics, and bypassed the line by landing at Rangiaowhia, a village the Maori believed to be neutral. Many old people and children were killed when the whare caught alight during the fighting here.

Afterwards when Cameron advanced on Paterangi he again found it abandoned. The King and most of his followers had again vanished travelling south into the fastness of the Maniapoto. He could go no further. His lines of communication were to long and he would have to leave the security of the river and venture into the forests of the interior.

He needed another way of proving his mettle.

Orakau was an unfortunate accident for the Kingites. Newly arrived Ngati Porou & Tuhoe unhappy at missing out on previous battles chose to build a pa in a poorly positioned site.It was easily surrounded, had no escape route, and was incomplete. to make matters worse it had little food and no water. To compound matters they were surprised and had no chance to send their women away.

Much of what happened here has been idealised and used to mythologise the wars. Rewi has been depicted as brave ("friend I will fight for ever and ever") and the Maori as stoic ("The women and children are to die as well" ). Surrounded with little ammunition and no water it should have been a stunning victory.

That Cameron killed 80 odd Maori was some consolation but the escape of Rewi Maniapoto was a disappointment.

Cameron also realized that he had advanced as far as logistics would allow. The King ensconced with his Maniapoto kin was safe from Greys paddle ships and Cameron's lines of communication were now too long and difficult to defend.

Despondent Cameron then recieved news of a opportunity at Tauranga...

Challeging the King

Grey returned perhaps expecting that his old policies (Flour & Sugar) would continue to work.

In only a few years much had changed. Thousands more settlers had arrived with an eye on Maori 'wastelands' and little patience with Government efforts to treat Maori fairly. Maori for their part had decided to unite in their desire to hold onto their lands and had chosen a King to represent them and their wish to remain economically and politically separate.

Maori and Pakeha relations had changed with the Settlers determined to enforce the dominance of the British empire and their right to wastelands. Maori for their part appear determined to retain control of their lands, and Greys platitudes no longer worked.Grey wanted to attack the King but lacked necessary resources. In particular he needed more troops. He could get some troops from local militia but not the thousands of professional troops he wanted.

Grey had seen the Wars in the North and Taranaki falter and fail because of a lack of logistical suport and a lack of manpower. To create a sound infrastructure for an invasion he constructed the Great South Road. This led directly from Auckland to the banks of the Mangatawhiri Stream.

A regiment could now disembark at Queen Wharf (todays 'Party Central') and virtually march directly into battle if necessary.. Grey just needed the troops.The Imperial Government would not give him soldiers without good reason. Grey had no valid reason so he lied. Then he lied some more, and some more.

In the ‘wars’ video Belich mentions the drunken rambling of the Maori called Whare who talked about a planned attack by Maori and French collaborators on Auckland. It was this ‘threat’ that Grey continued to hammer on about, much as Busby had harped on about the French threat in the 1830’s. Why the Maori would attack their best market Grey never explained. What they would achieve by driving the Pakeha out of New Zealand was never explained. However I guess within the Colonial Office the idea that natives might resent them and want to kill them wasn’t far from their thoughts (of course they would be confirmed in the Indian Mutiny of 1857). So the Colonial Office sent troops, lots and lots of troops. Thousands of troops.

As 1862 moved into 1863 Greys war machine grew,The Government for its own part took out a £3m loan secured by the promise of confiscated lands. It recruited troops from Australia on the promise of free land. (The 'Fencibles' ) While Dommett was Premier he was supported by Russell and Whitaker land speculators who pushed hard for the war and would profit spectacularly from the confiscations. Unfortunately many of the fencibles would receive land that was almost unworkable for poor farmers. Russell and Whitaker would buy up much of this land later for a pittance.

So Grey assured Maori he did not seek war but would ‘dig around the King’. Meanwhile he built his army and then built the Great South Road pointing into the heart of the Waikato. Once he had an army capable of defeating the King, Grey set about starting the war. The Mangatawhiri Stream lay on the Kings Rohe (border), north was settler Auckland, south was the Kingitanga.

Crossing the stream meant war. In July Cameron crossed the stream but Grey backdated the declaration that any Maori who did not acknowledge the Queens authority would be in rebellion. When Maori resisted at Koheroa just south of the Mangatawhiri the Waikato War had started.

This land is your land, this land is my land....

The end of the Wellington Wars did not settle anything in particular apart from enforcing the NZ Company's claims to land around some of its settlements.

Grey stayed until called to South Africa. At that point he allowed a new Constitution to be introduced. This established the Provincial System. At last the settlers had a voice in Government but to their annoyance the Governor retained control over Native affairs, denying them access to Maori land.

Land (via pre-emption) remained under the control of the Governor.Despite this Maori land continued to be alienated. Donald McLean acting on behalf of the Governor was able to buy large areas of land, but not in areas which were most desired by settlers (especially in the Taranaki or Waikato) remained out of their reach.

In a reaction to the continued loss of land and the consequent loss of rangatiratanga and mana over their land some Maori began to seek an alternative. The Queen represented all of the Pakeha,

Maori should have their own King.

From 1852 Te Rauparaha and TeWhiwhi campaigned for a figure to represent all Maori. They approached several leading figures, none of who whom felt they had the necessary Mana needed for such a position.

Eventually Te Wherwhero accepted the mantle becoming King Potatau.The Kingitanga represented a challenge to settler aspirations and the Governments purse. For settlers it also represented a defiance of British control of New Zealand. They could not countenance a separatist King in a British New Zealand.The King and his supporters saw it in a different light. Besides now representing Maori (the red, black and white threads) he was keen to work with the Government.

Because of the perceived threat the Governors however lost faith in him.Governor Gore Brown it seems was determined to force the issue of who controlled the country. When Teira offered him land at Waitara it seemed a golden opportunity to show the power of Britain. Unfortnately Teira had only a minor claim to the area. Wiremu Kingi (te Atiawa) had a stronger claim and so did the Waikato who had driven the Te Atiawa off the land during the Musket Wars.

When the war broke out the British and settlers found themselves surrounded and penned into New Plymouth. The ring of modern Pa which encircled the town became a challenge which first Colonel Gold then General Pratt unsuccessfully attacked with cannon then sap.Neither seemed to appreciate the tactic that kept them occupied with relatively unimportant military targets. The war meandered along with the Maori out-digging the Imperial Troops.

The involvement of Kingitanga warriors appeared to confirm the Pakeha belief that the King intended to enforce a Land League and to stand in the way of British law by stopping the sale by Teira of the Waitara. The challenge to the rule of law seems to have been a Government preoccupation, as many settlers recognised the weakness of Teiras claim to the land.The end of the war was claimed as victory by the returning Grey although his failure to punish the ‘rebels’ seems to indicate the weak case that they had and their inability to defeat an enemy who would not stay still. As it happens Grey believed he needed to strike at the heart of Maori resistance – the King in the Waikato

Flour and Sugar

(New 2011) In class we talked about Grey's policies after the 1840 conflicts. Having secured peace in the North and subdued the South he set about acquiring land, lots of land. With the help of McLean he purchased 33,000,000 acres (about half the country) almost all of the South island and a tenth of the North. Much of this was accomplished under the 'Flour & Sugar' policy. McLean used Hui to negotiate the sales of land, often exploiting tribal issues to encourage the dispossession of Maori from their land. Korero was often aided by the gifts which flowed to the Chiefs.


From http://lossenelin.livejournal.com/99938.html

"Settlers were dependent on Maori for markets, primary production, and coastal and river transport while Maori were dependent on the settlers for trade. By the 1850s Maori consumed an estimated £500,000 worth of imported European goods per year, and this want for European goods was a likely motivator for land sales, which were the easiest source of cash for Maori, although they were involved in many other economic ventures, and often working for wages in the Pakeha economy. Others sold land for different reasons; to attract Pakeha to Maori areas for trade, to meet debts and to gain capital either for the development of remaining land or for arms and ammunition.

From a Pakeha perspective the trade that occurred between the two groups was largely done for the benefit of settlement, for instance Governor George Grey's 'flour and sugar' policy of aid and education to Maori was focused on areas where he hoped to get land. In this pre-taxation era state funds were partly derived from profits on land transactions. Grey justified land deals where the Crown resold land at a profit on the basis that the real payment would be long term Maori prosperity, but in practice it was a mechanism for dispossession. Land sales also had the effect of allowing Maori entrepreneurs to emerge, using profit from land sales for themselves rather than their kin groups".

Increasingly the loss of land began to concern Maori, especially those who were aware of the impact on other indigenous peoples caused by land loss.

the 1840's fightback.

Te Rangihaeta was outraged by the lack of tikanga practised in Wellington. Ngatitoa had always been the the pre-eminent Iwi in the region. Under the leadership of Te Rauapraha they had travelled south from Kawhia taking Ngati Mutunga and Te Atiawa under their protectorship. In uti for their support alnong the way, they gifted them (the right to occupy) land in Wellington and the Hutt valley.

Maori land ownership is difficult to quantify but conquest and occupancy gave Ngatitoa rights over the land. Ngati Mutunga transferred that land to other hapu when they left the Hutt for the Chathams. Ngatitoa retained its Rangatiratanga. When this land was 'sold' to settlers Te Rangiaheata expected recompense as required by tikanga, but initially received nothing. When problems developed between Settlers and Maori in the area he travelled north to support their (and his own) claims.

He supported the fighting in the Hutt, even when he did recieve some comprensation, but found he was battling not only Grey but also some of his own Iwi who resented his presence and his interference. Greys fait accompli against Te Rauparaha diminished Ngatitoa mana and ability to fight. Grey then forced almost all Maori out of the Wellington area despite an agreement to allow retention of gardens and sacred grounds. With little support and facing Redcoats not Settlers, Rangihaeta was forced out of area and into Porirua. Building a fighting Pa away from the coast to negate the British gunboats only slowed the ineveitable and Rangihaeta was forced to abandon his claims in the region. Grey appeared to be beating the Maori and was feted by Settlers.

Te Mamaku had supported Rangihaeta and withdrew back to his Iwi near Petre (Wanganui) when Wellington was lost. He raised some problems for settlers resulting in the killing of a settler family. Local Maori were angry at his interference and the possibility that they might loose 'their' Pakeha. They chased down the murderers and handed them over to the Settler administration. Te Mamaku fought the Army at St Johns Wood near Wanganui in an indecisive battle but abandoned his campaign bcaause of a lack of support. Like Rangihaeta he also retired into the hinterland. Grey chose to retain his new found reputation by not chasing either into the interior.