James Belich argues that the British victory at Ōrākau was also their ‘cruellest disappointment of the entire war.’ Chris Pugsley, on the other hand, sees Ōrākau as the ‘decisive victory that Cameron had sought.’
Governor Gore Browne demanded that the Kīngitanga submit ‘without reserve’ to the British Queen and began planning an invasion of Waikato shortly before his reassignment to Tasmania.
After fighting broke out again in Taranaki in early 1863, Governor George Grey turned his attention to the region he saw as the root of his problems with Māori: Waikato. This was the heartland of the anti-landselling King Movement (Kīngitanga). Grey vowed to ‘dig around’ the Kīngitanga until it fell.
For many Maori in the 19th century, the Union Jack was frequently viewed as a potent symbol of Great Britain's power in New Zealand. In the New Zealand Wars, Maori parties who sought to resist government forces often devised their own flags to show their independence and counteract the 'mana' of the Union Jack.
Group portrait showing, from left to right: Henare Kaihau, Richard John
Seddon, James Carroll and Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero (King Tawhiao III), circa
1896-1906.
Biography of Te Puea Hērangi, granddaughter of the second Māori King. Te Puea was a prominent advocate for Tainui in the first half of the twentieth century.
