The Northern War
Te riri Pākehā ki te Tai Tokerau
- When
- 1845–1846
- Where
- Kororāreka and Ruapekapeka · Kororāreka
- Reach
- Several regions
Hōne Heke felled the flagstaff at Kororāreka four times and sacked the town. The war ended at Ruapekapeka, an engineered pā built to absorb artillery.
Heke’s target was the flagstaff, not the settlers: it stood for a sovereignty he believed had not been ceded, and for the customs duties and shifting capital that had gutted the Bay of Islands economy. British troops took Ruapekapeka in January 1846 after a bombardment, though most defenders withdrew intact. Kawiti and Heke were never punished, and both the pā design and the political question outlasted the fighting.
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 Musket Wars
Musket-armed war parties reshaped the map of Māori New Zealand. Perhaps 20,000 died and whole districts changed hands before the fighting burned out around 1840.
The burning of the Boyd
Around 66 crew and passengers were killed and the ship burned at Whangaroa, after the flogging of a rangatira’s son aboard. European shipping avoided the north for years.
Whangaroa HarbourHutt Valley and Whanganui campaigns
Fighting over disputed Company purchases spread through the Hutt and up to Whanganui. Governor Grey seized Te Rauparaha from his bed without charge.
Hutt ValleyThe Wairau affray
An armed Nelson party tried to arrest Te Rauparaha over disputed Wairau land. Twenty-two settlers and at least four Ngāti Toa died.
Tuamarina