Pōtatau Te Wherowhero becomes the first Māori King
Te Kīngitanga
- When
- June 1858
- Where
- Ngāruawāhia
- Reach
- Several regions
Iwi across the central North Island raised a king to hold land, halt sales and deal with the Crown as an equal. The Kīngitanga continues today.
The movement grew out of a decade of hui about land loss and the failure of the Treaty’s guarantees. It was explicitly not a rejection of the Queen: the King was to stand alongside her, holding authority over Māori land and people. Settler governments read it as rebellion, and the perceived threat of a unified Māori polity was the stated justification for invading the Waikato five years later.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
The Native Land Court is established
The court converted customary communal title into individual freehold — the mechanism by which most remaining Māori land was lost, without a shot fired.
Māori War Effort Organisation
More than 300 tribal committees organised recruitment, production and welfare — the most effective Māori self-administration the Crown had allowed since 1840.
Māori Representation Act
Four Māori seats were created as a temporary measure, giving Māori men the vote twelve years before all Pākehā men got it.
Te Kotahitanga — the Māori Parliament
Te Kotahitanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi
A Māori parliament met annually for a decade, seeking the self-government promised by Te Tiriti and passing its own legislation.
Waipatu, Hawke’s Bay