Ron Crosby on Muskets and Maori

Most New Zealanders know something of Hongi Hika, the great Ngapuhi leader, and of Te Rauparaha of Ngati Toa. They stand out as the respective scourges of the North and South Islands. But they were just two of a host of equally strong, equally capable leaders who quite properly deserved the appellation of General. Names like:

• Te Wherowhero and Tukorehu of Waikato;
• Pomare, Te Wera and Te Morenga of Ngapuhi (Northland);
• Te Rohu and Tuterangianini of Ngati Maru (Thames);
• Te Heuheu of Ngati Tuwharetoa (Taupo);
• Te Waharoa of Ngati Haua (Matamata);
• Murupaenga and Apihai Te Kawau of Ngati Whatua (Kaipara),

and many others, were dreaded or respected throughout wide areas of both islands. Others, such as Hikairo of Te Arawa (Rotorua); Te Pareihe of Ngati Kahungunu (Hawke's Bay); Te Matakatea (Taranaki), and Tuhawaiki and Taiaroa of Ngai Tahu in the South Island, appeared time and again as extraordinarily courageous and resourceful defenders of their respective rohe, or territory. In turn, as they acquired more muskets they were to prove their versatility in attack.

...by and large warfare in Maoridom before the musket was much more limited to inter-hapu clashes of a localised nature. All iwi and hapu were equally armed with the same rakau Maori, or Maori weapons of war: it was usually too dangerous to contemplate longdistance raiding, as such taua were likely to be outnumbered and destroyed.

In contrast, the campaigns of the Musket Wars, because of the superiority the musket provided, were prodigious in numerous respects:

• Their duration, sometimes lasting twelve to eighteen months
• Their physical length and difficulty, always involving huge distances by foot or waka (war canoe) in hostile and physically demanding country.
• Their brutality and ruthlessness, often resulting in the depopulation of large swathes of the country through which they passed, with the remnant survivors living in slavery or fear.
• Their frequency, each summer often seeing up to ten major campaigns in various parts of the country with sometimes two, three or four campaigns occurring at once.

While there was one major factor which gradually brought the Musket Wars to an end, there were a range of others that, particularly in the closing stages of the wars, combined fortuitously to hasten that end.

The first and primary factor was the spread of muskets throughout the country. Whereas in 1818 Ngapuhi could campaign with impunity with relatively small numbers, creating havoc throughout the North Island, by 1826 they were facing foes who were equally well-armed. From then on their victories were few and hard earned. Defeats were often encountered, and in human terms the cost of campaigning became too great.

A more direct factor in bringing the wars to an end was the sudden arrival of large numbers of European settlers at the end of the 1830s. Europeans began to buy significant areas of land, particularly in places that had been temporarily abandoned by iwi during the Musket Wars, and they immediately started to settle in large numbers. Once that occurred Maori rangatira knew they had to deal with a major new political force, and that the musket alone would be unlikely to prevail against the firepower to which the Europeans had recourse.

Another important factor in the cessation of hostilities was the gradual conversion of many Maori to Christianity and its message of peace, later in the 1830s. The influence of Christianity on the rangatira involved in the early years of the Musket Wars was very small, certainly during the major raids of the 1820s. The missionaries' influence in reducing the impact of the musket at that time could only be described as minimal or nil, and indeed some of the early missionaries such as Thomas Kendall were actively involved in trading muskets with Ngapuhi.

An additional factor which had a localised effect on the ability of some iwi to pursue their war aims was the onset of disease in the form of measles, influenza and other illnesses such as tuberculosis. In some areas European diseases caused great mortality, with more severe effects even than the musket. There is little doubt that in 1835, for example, a major clash between Ngai Tahu and Ngati Toa was prevented in large part by a measles epidemic suffered by Ngai Tahu.

But the final factor in bringing the Musket Wars to an end was the Treaty of Waitangi. Whatever arguments existed then and now as to what Maori thought it meant, the treaty was regarded in a general sense by both Maori and European settlers as imposing a system of order that would protect against raiding.