Throughout the greater part of the settlement of New Zealand by the Maoris in the pre-European era, the only source of information on the movements and activities of the various tribes is tradition. In some districts where traditions have been recorded in detail, it is probable that archaeology will in future be able to reinforce or reject traditional material, but this is a line of research which has hardly begun.
In the proper sense of the word, history of the Maori tribes begins with material written down at the time of the events or recorded subsequently from eyewitness accounts. Thus the beginnings of history in New Zealand date from a little before the arrival of Captain Cook in 1769. This is not to say that traditional accounts of events prior to that time should be discounted. On the contrary, these traditions contain matter of such prime importance to Maori society that, even allowing for the high degree of partisanship arising from tribal pride, it is probable that they are reasonably accurate descriptions of actual events.
Tribal history is largely a story of intertribal warfare and, at the time at which written history begins, the whole aspect of warfare was about to be changed by the introduction of firearms and new methods of fighting. It is probable that in earlier times intertribal encounters were less serious affairs and that the number of fatalities was not very high. Moreover, the odds were more even in that combat was hand to hand; missiles were not greatly used and were not very effective.
Shortly after Europeans began to visit the country various Maori chiefs were quick to see the advantages of the musket and the power it gave them over enemies without such weapons. Chiefs who managed to acquire muskets by trading set out on a scale of slaughter and destruction quite unknown before. In the first 30 years of the nineteenth century thousands of Maoris must have died in the campaigns of Hongi Hika and Te Rauparaha alone.
It would be idle to attempt to give a comprehensive account of the complex pattern of intertribal relations in early historical times, but a summary of the campaigns of some of the outstanding Maori leaders will illustrate the conditions prevailing at that time.
One of the first Maori chiefs to take advantage of new weapons and new techniques of warfare was Hongi Hika, a chief of the Ngapuhi tribe of North Auckland. Ngapuhi were a numerous people of many subtribes mainly concentrated in the Whangarei, Bay of Islands, and Whangaroa areas. According to S. P. Smith (Maori Wars of the Nineteenth Century), there are no traditions to indicate that Ngapuhi ever penetrated further south than the Hauraki Gulf until the early years of the nineteenth century. With the coming of firearms, however, when roving bands of well-armed men could move through large but ill-armed tribes, Ngapuhi war parties roamed the North Island even as far as Wellington. As early European settlement was mainly concentrated in the North Auckland area, Ngapuhi were thus well placed for the acquisition of muskets, and they were not backward in the use of these new weapons against their neighbours.
Hongi Hika had his early training in warfare in a series of border squabbles between Ngapuhi and the people of southern Hokianga. He was later one of the chiefs who suffered a sharp defeat at the hands of the Ngati Whatua tribe at Moremo-nui, between Hokianga and Kaipara, in 1807. On this occasion the Ngapuhi guns were helpless against a surprise attack by Ngati Whatua armed only with traditional Maori weapons. Eighteen years later this defeat was amply avenged at the battle of Te Ika-a-ranganui.
In the meantime, however, Hongi in 1818 embarked on a naval expedition with a combined force of 800 men from Ngapuhi and from Ngati Maru of the Hauraki district. The expedition, which was primarily bent on obtaining revenge for some Ngapuhi women murdered at East Cape some time before, attacked various tribes at Maketu, Maraenui (near Opotiki), and Hicks Bay, where the Ngati Maru leader Te Haupa was killed. Hongi returned to the Bay of Islands in January 1819 with a large number of prisoners, said to be about 2,000, and with many preserved heads of slain enemies.
In March 1820 Hongi departed for England to procure supplies of firearms. While in England he was made much of and was given many presents, which he later converted into cash to buy guns and powder. He returned home in July 1821 and in less than two months he embarked upon a campaign of death and destruction which lasted almost until his death. In September Hongi assembled a vast fleet of war canoes and left the Bay of Islands with 2,000–3,000 men, 1,000 of whom were armed with muskets. Their object was to obtain vengeance for losses inflicted on Hongi's people by the Ngati Maru of the Thames district. After attacking a settlement at Te Waiti about 20 miles north of Auckland, the Ngapuhi army proceeded to the Tamaki area, where they laid siege to Mokoia and Mau-inaina, the fortified pa of the Ngati Pao tribe. After a protracted siege the Ngapuhi, led by Hongi, Te Morenga, Taki, and many other chiefs, finally carried the pa. It is said that 1,000 Ngati Paoa were slain during the fighting and after the battle was over. Many escaped, however, by swimming the Tamaki River.
Hongi then led his army to Te Totara, a strong position of the Ngati Maru tribe south of Parawai, near the present town of Thames. Many of the local tribe were away from home on the expedition to the southern parts of the North Island, known as “Amio whenua”. At the same time there were in Te Totara various visitors from Waikato, Te Arawa, Ngati Raukawa, and other tribes. Despite his superiority in arms Hongi was unable to take the pa by assault. He therefore pretended to make peace and made a feint withdrawal. During the night he returned to the unguarded pa and captured it, killing many of the inmates.
As a result of the slaying of some Waikato children at Mau-inaina, a party of Waikato warriors went to Whangarei at the end of 1821 or early in 1822 and inflicted casualties on the local Ngapuhi. This and other incidents led to a retaliatory attack on the Waikato tribe by Hongi Hika. Hongi left the Bay of Islands in February 1822 with 3,000 men. They carried their canoes across the portage at Otahuhu and then crossed another portage at Waiuku to the headwaters of the Awaroa Stream, a tributary of the Waikato. Progress was slow because of the many trees which had been felled across the stream by subtribes of Waikato.
In the meantime the Waikato were gathering at Matakitaki, a large pa at the junction of the Mangapiko Stream and the Waipa River. Eventually there were 10,000 men, women, and children in the pa, which was under the command of Potatau Te Wherowhero. Few of the Waikato had encountered firearms before. Ngapuhi besieged the pa in May. After a period of inaction they assaulted the pa under cover of heavy musket fire, which created panic amongst the Waikato. In a short time Ngapuhi captured the pa and then began a hunt for fugitives throughout the Waikato. Te Wherowhero escaped and in numerous running engagements his remaining warriors inflicted some losses on Ngapuhi. Hongi finally withdrew after inflicting grievous casualties and arrived back in the Bay of Islands in July 1822. In the following year Rewa, a Ngapuhi chief, returned to Waikato and made peace with Te Wherowhero.
In 1823 Hongi assembled another army and set out to avenge the deaths of some of his tribesmen at the hands of the Arawa people of Rotorua. On arriving in the district Hongi found that the Arawa had withdrawn to Mokoia Island in Lake Rotorua and that all of their canoes had been gathered there. Hongi's determination, however, was equal to this obstacle and he arranged for his army to bring canoes from the Bay of Plenty. They paddled and dragged the canoes up the Pongakawa River from near Maketu to Lake Rotoehu, then carried them overland to Lake Rotoiti by what is now called Hongi's Track. As there were no further obstacles Hongi was then able to assault the fortress on Mokoia. With his great superiority in firearms he had no great difficulty in overcoming the Arawa warriors. After feasting on the slain and pursuing scattered Arawa parties throughout the district the Ngapuhi went back to the Bay of Plenty and then on to Waihi, where they camped for a few days and completed a peacemaking ceremony with the Arawa.
Two of Hongi's leaders, Pomare and Te Wera, left the main party at Waihi and set off on an expedition to southern parts. Hongi and the main body returned to the Bay of Islands.
In 1825 Hongi took up the traditional feud of Ngapuhi with their neighbours, Ngati Whatua, who had by this time occupied most of the Kaipara district and the area down to Tamaki. The defeat of Ngapuhi at the battle of Moremu-nui in 1807 had not been adequately avenged. Hongi now attended to this thoroughly in defeating Ngati Whatua at the battle of Te Ika-a-ranga-nui, a place situated about a mile up the Waimako Stream from its junction with the Kaiwaka. Many of the survivors fled south to the Waikato area.
Hongi returned home for a few months and then set out to follow the Ngati Whatua fugitives. He sailed down the east coast, thence across the portages at Otahuhu and Waiuku. Paddling up the Waikato, Waipa, and Mangapiko Rivers, the Ngapuhi came to Noho-awatea, where the Ngati Whatua had taken refuge with the Ngati Paoa, themselves fugitives from the battle of Mau-inaina four years earlier.
By one of those strange alliances not uncommon in Maori history, the Ngapuhi were joined by Ngati Haua, a Waikato tribe from the Matamata area. On this occasion they asked their relations, the Ngati Paoa, to leave the pa, and Te Rauroha, the Ngati Paoa leader, withdrew with his followers, leaving Ngati Whatua to their fate. The pa was taken and many of the Ngati Whatua were slain.
This was Hongi's last expedition of any note to the south. In January 1827 he was wounded in a fight with the tribes of Whangaroa and Hokianga which took place at Hunuhunua on the banks of the Mangamuka Stream. Hongi was carried home and died in March 1828.
The Maori leader responsible for the greatest slaughter in the early nineteenth century was undoubtedly Te Rauparaha, a chief of the Ngati Toa tribe of the Kawhia district. This was a small tribe, closely related to the Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto tribes who surrounded the Kawhia domains of Ngati Toa. Te Rauparaha was the stormy petrel of the Tainui tribes, constantly quarrelling with his neighbours.
After many years of intertribal fighting, the district north of Kawhia and around Aotea Harbour had become almost depopulated. This vacuum was an invitation to Ngati Mahanga, a Waikato sub-tribe of Whaingaroa (Raglan), to move southwards. They did so, killing a few scattered members of the Ngati Toa and Ngati Koata tribes in the process. Te Rauparaha reacted quickly to this invasion and descended upon Whaingaroa with a fleet of war canoes. He attacked Ngati Mahanga and inflicted a decisive defeat upon them. This led to retaliatory attacks by Waikato on Ngati Toa and Ngati Koata. Gradually Te Rauparaha became embroiled with the whole might of Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto, and for some years war parties moved up and down the Kawhia coast. At times Te Rauparaha's forces were defeated; at other times he inflicted sharp defeats on his more powerful neighbours. In between, there were periods of uneasy peace.
In 1818 a party of Ngati Whatua, under the chiefs Tuwhare and Murupaenga, came to Kawhia, and Te Rauparaha persuaded them to join him on an attack on some of his enemies in Taranaki. While they were in Taranaki Te Puoho, of the Ngati Tama tribe of the Urenui district, asked for their help in attacking the Taranaki tribe's stronghold of Tataraimaka, situated on the coast about 11 miles south-west of New Plymouth. Te Rauparaha and his allies, with a few muskets, were able to take the pa with great slaughter. After a successful attack on another Taranaki pa, Mounukahawai, and an unsuccessful assault on the people of the Tapui-nikau pa, the war parties returned to their respective homes.
In the following year a large northern war party of Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua stayed at Kawhia on an expedition to the south. Their leaders were Tuwhare, Patuone, Nene, Tawhai, and others. Te Rauparaha and his Ngati Toa were prevailed upon to join the northern people and in due course they set out by way of North Taranaki. The Ngati Tama, Ngati Mutunga, and Te Atiawa tribes of that district, being related to Ngati Toa, gave a free passage to the expedition. With somewhat indifferent success they attacked several pas of the Ngati Maru tribe of inland Taranaki and then moved on without incident until they arrived at Wanganui. Here they were met by the Wanganui people at Purua pa on the eastern bank of the river, a little above the present city. The firearms of the invaders were too much for the local people and the pa was taken.
Moving south the war party attacked a small pa of the Rangitane tribe on Lake Hotuiti in the Mana-watu district and slew the chief. After a halt at Otaki they continued to Pukerua Bay, where the Muaupoko fortress, Waimapihi, was captured. The next engagement was with the Ngati Ira of the Wellington area. The Parangahau pa was taken after a tremendous resistance by Ngati Ira, which even evoked the admiration of their enemies.
From Wellington the northern party crossed the Rimutaka Range and assaulted the Tauhere-nikau pa near Featherston. The siege was successful and many of the defenders were killed. After pursuing fugitives as far as Porangahau and Cape Palliser, the combined force returned to Wellington and made their way home. Tuwhare's party of Ngati Whatua left the main body to attack some of the river tribes. Tuwhare himself was killed during this fighting.
In 1820 or early 1821 the Waikato tribes decided to rid themselves of their troublesome Ngati Toa neighbours. With their allies, Ngati Maniapoto, the Waikato tribes made a well-planned attack on Kawhia and Taharoa with three forces totalling over 3,000 men, the advance being made simultaneously from the north, the east, and the south. Waikato were led by Te Wherowhero and the Maniapoto by Tukorehu.
As the enemy closed in upon him Te Rauparaha withdrew his men from the strongholds of Te Maika and Te Totara on the south shore of Kawhia Harbour. He concentrated his forces at Te Kawau and Te Roto at the western end of Lake Taharoa. Here Te Rauparaha fell ill and, after handing over the command to his nephew, Te Rangihaeata, he retired to Te Arawi, a pa between Honipaka point and the entrance to Kawhia Harbour. The main battle took place at Te Kakara, between Lake Taharoa and the coast. Te Rauparaha, on the verge of collapse, rejoined his army to exhort them to defend their lands and then went out on the lake in a canoe to watch the fight.
After a desperate struggle Te Wherowhero's combined forces split the Ngati Toa army in two. One half retreated southwards to the friendly Ngati Tama south of Mokau. The remainder moved back into Te Kawau and Te Roto fortresses. These, with inadequate garrisons, soon fell, and the only Ngati Toa force left intact was a small band with Te Rauparaha at Te Arawi, a pa situated on a headland connected to the shore by a razor-backed ridge. As the pa could not be taken by storm the Waikato army laid siege to it. After the siege had lasted for several weeks the Ngati Maniapoto, under the Chief Te Rangituatea, took their turn in standing guard. While the Waikato men were away seeking food Te Rangituatea held a parley with Te Rauparaha, to whom he was related, and arranged for his escape by canoe, while some of the garrison were permitted to move south overland.
Owing to his illness Te Rauparaha did not go far, but took refuge with some of his relations in a cave at Tirua point, while Te Rangihaeata, Te Pehi Kupe, Tungia, and others moved south to Taranaki with the main body of the tribe.
Eventually Te Rangituatea surreptitiously arranged for Te Rauparaha and his party to escape to Mokau. They were seen by Ngati Maniapoto after they had crossed the river but Te Rauparaha had a large number of fires lit to convey the impression of a large force and they were able to move south again without further molestation, finally joining their tribe, which was living with Ngati Tama.
Some time later (in 1822) Te Rauparaha and his Ngati Toa were living at Okoki pa in the Ngati Mutunga territory in the Urenui district. A Ngati Maniapoto war party under Tukorehu, while on an expedition, were besieged in Pukerangiora pa, on the south bank of the Waitara River, by the tribes of North Taranaki. Te Rauparaha heard that his old enemy, Te Wherowhero, was bringing his Waikato army to relieve Tukorehu. He thereupon laid plans to even up the score with Te Wherowhero. When the Waikato army was approaching Okoki, Te Rauparaha sent out a decoy party to lure Waikato thither. Although Te Wherowhero tried to restrain his men, they pursued the decoy party into a well-laid ambush and the Waikato were soon put to rout. In the pursuit which followed, Te Wherowhero was overtaken by Te Rauparaha and some of his Taranaki allies. One of the latter was about to shoot Te Wherowhero when Te Rauparaha kicked his musket aside and allowed the Waikato chief to engage his attackers in single combat. After he had withstood attack after attack from various Taranaki warriors, Te Wherowhero was saved by his army, which had rallied and returned to look for him.
The Waikato disengaged from Te Rauparaha's combined force and moved off to the relief of Pukerangiora pa. Te Rauparaha in the meantime gathered his tribe together and moved southwards, many of the North Taranaki people going with him.
Early in 1823 the Ngati Toa moved into the Horowhenua district and proceeded to drive the Muaupoko tribe out of their lands. After capturing the pa built on artificial islands in Lake Horowhenua, the invaders proceeded to Paekakariki, where they successfully assaulted another pa occupied by the Muaupoko. This prompted an attack by the mixed Ngati Ira and Ngati Kahungunu people of Wellington and Wairarapa, who drove Te Rauparaha back to Waikanae with considerable loss.
This reverse caused Te Rauparaha to abandon his efforts to occupy the mainland for the moment and to cross over to Kapiti Island. He proposed to make his base there until he could call on the assistance of his Ngati Raukawa relations from Maungatautari. Kapiti was actually captured from the Ngati Apa tribe by Te Rauparaha's uncle, Te Pehi Kupe, while Te Rauparaha made a feint withdrawal to the Manawatu.
After the move by Ngati Toa to Kapiti, Te Rauparaha heard that the Rangitane tribe had erected a large pa at Hotuiti on the north bank of the Manawatu. He and Te Rangihaeata immediately proceeded to Hotuiti with a war party and captured the pa by treachery, killing many of the Rangitane and also three Ngati Apa chiefs from the Rangitikei.
The Ngati Toa withdrew to Waikanae and, while there, they were attacked by Te Hakeke of Ngati Apa with a considerable force from his own tribe and from Rangitane and Muaupoko. Upwards of 60 of the Ngati Toa were killed, including the four daughters of Te Pehi Kupe. When reinforcements of Ngati Toa arrived from Kapiti, the attackers withdrew.
In 1824 the combined tribes of Rangitikei, Manawatu, and Horowhenua, including a large contingent of Rangitane from the South Island, assembled a huge flotilla of war canoes with the intention of overwhelming Ngati Toa on Kapiti Island. Te Rauparaha's warriors heavily defeated them at Waiorua and dealt with them so severely that Kapiti was never again attacked.
Soon afterwards Te Rauparaha was joined by Ngati Raukawa and also by a Ngati Tama party. With a large force at his disposal he began to accumulate firearms for an attack on the South Island. Te Pehi even journeyed to England to get more guns. In the meantime Ngati Raukawa were occupying the Horowhenua district. The defeated Muaupoko made a last effort to retrieve their lands and assembled at Lake Papaitonga, near Ohau, but Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata attacked and defeated them once more.
In 1828 Te Rauparaha was ready for his first attack on the South Island tribes. On this occasion he was accompanied by his Taranaki allies of Ngati Tama and Te Atiawa. While Te Rauparaha was defeating the Ngati Apa on D'Urville Island (Rangitoto), the Taranaki party raided settlements in Queen Charlotte Sound. Te Rauparaha then crossed to Pelorus Sound, where he slew many of the local people. The Taranaki left Queen Charlotte Sound and proceeded to attack the Ngati Apa in Blind Bay and Massacre Bay, while Te Rauparaha and his Ngati Toa went down the east coast by canoe to Kaikoura. There he defeated the local branch of the Ngai Tahu tribe, who mistakenly believed the canoes to be those of a party of visitors they had been expecting. The unarmed people were completely taken by surprise, some 1,400 being killed or taken prisoner. Among the prisoners was Rerewaka, a chief who had some time previously insulted Te Rauparaha. He was taken back to Kapiti where he was put to death with great cruelty.
In 1829 Te Rauparaha again crossed to the South Island, this time to avenge an insult paid Te Rangihaeata by Kekerengu, a Ngati Ira chief who had taken refuge with the Ngai Tahu at Kaikoura. The Ngati Toa landed at Wairau and went overland to Kaikoura. The Ngai Tahu had, however, heard of their coming and fled southwards. They were overtaken at Omihi, where they were attacked and defeated with great slaughter.
The Ngati Toa then proceeded to the great Ngai Tahu fortress of Kaiapohia (Kaiapoi), where they pretended to be trading guns for greenstone. The Ngai Tahu, however, had their suspicions aroused and, when Te Pehi and some other notable chiefs were inside the pa, they were set upon and killed. Te Rauparaha, having lost a number of his principal chiefs, withdrew and returned to Kapiti to prepare his revenge.
Soon afterwards the Elizabeth (q.v.), commanded by one Stewart, called at Kapiti and, in return for a load of flax, Te Rauparaha and some of his men were taken to Akaroa for the purpose of capturing Tamaiharanui, a leading chief of Ngai Tahu who had been present at Kaiapoi when Te Pehi was killed. Tamaiharanui, with his wife and daughter, was lured on board by Stewart and was carried back to Kapiti, where he was put to death by Tiaia, Te Pehi's widow.
Subsequently Te Rauparaha, with Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa, and Te Atiawa, went to Kaiapoi to complete their revenge. They found the Ngai Tahu force somewhat depleted, as many of their warriors were accompanying the Otago chief, Taiaroa, back to his home following a visit. After the pa was invested, some Ngai Tahu messengers slipped through the surrounding swamp and succeeded in overtaking Taiaroa's party, who returned to Kaiapoi and made their way into the pa. As the siege went on Te Rauparaha became impatient and he ordered his men to dig saps to enable them to approach the palisades. The inmates of the pa sought to hamper this work by piling brushwood outside the palisade and setting fire to it. To their dismay the wind changed and the defences were soon enveloped in smoke and flames. The attackers dashed through the ruins of the palisades and defeated the Ngai Tahu with tremendous slaughter. Following the capture of Kaiapoi, Te Rauparaha ravaged Canterbury as far south as Rakaia and also attacked settlements on Banks Peninsula, where Onawe pa was destroyed and many of the Ngai Tahu were killed.
Having conquered Ngai Tahu, Te Rauparaha was asked by Ngati Raukawa to assist them to avenge a defeat they had suffered from the Wanganui people. With nearly a thousand warriors they attacked Putiki pa on the south bank of the Wanganui River. After a siege of two months the pa fell and ample revenge was obtained.
In subsequent years Te Rauparaha was engaged in several battles which took place between Ngati Raukawa and their erstwhile allies, Te Atiawa, who lived at Waikanae. The last of these was the fight known as Te Kuititanga, which took place at Waikanae in 1839. Te Rauparaha arrived from Kapiti to find his Ngati Raukawa friends getting the worst of it and he deemed it discreet to make a hurried return to Kapiti, his escape being helped by a vigorous rally by Ngati Raukawa. Te Rauparaha's subsequent career concerns the early European era of New Zealand history and will not be dealt with here.
When Te Rauparaha left Kawhia his kinsmen of Ngati Raukawa remained on their lands at Maungatautari, but their frequent collisions with Ngati Maniapoto and their other neighbours eventually led to their moving southwards to the west Taupo district. There they joined forces with the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe and became embroiled in a remarkable series of battles which centred round Te Roto a Tara, a pa situated in the lake of that name (now drained) near the present site of Te Aute College in Hawke's Bay.
In 1820 Ngati Tuwharetoa, under their chief Te Heuheu Tukino II, assaulted this pa, but without success. In a raid into the surrounding area Te Heuheu's brother was killed. This death was avenged by an attack on Te Aratipi pa on the bank of the Maraetotara Stream.
In 1822 Te Heuheu enlisted the aid of Ngati Raukawa and, strange to relate, their old enemies Ngati Maniapoto, Waikato, and Ngati Maru, to make a further attack on Te Roto a Tara. The pa was defended by the chief Pareihe and the Ngati Whatuiapiti branch of Ngati Kahungunu. The attackers cut down trees in the surrounding bush and built a causeway from the lake shore to the island. Pareihe countered this by building a tower overlooking the end of the causeway and did considerable damage to the invaders. Later he led a determined sally from the pa and drove back the enemy with many casualties. As it seemed inevitable, however, that the siege would eventually succeed, Pareihe quietly led his people out of the pa during the night and escaped, leaving it to the enemy. The odds against him were so strong that Pareihe went to Nukutaurua on the Mahia Peninsula and settled there with many of his people.
In the following year Te Wera, one of Hongi Hika's greatest leaders, arrived at Mahia with a local chief, Te Whareumu, who had been captured in a previous raid by Ngapuhi on the East Coast. His purpose was to restore Te Whareumu to his people and make peace with them. He was persuaded by the Ngati Kahungunu people to settle at Mahia and help them against their enemies.
In 1824 Pareihe went back to see what was happening in Heretaunga (the Hastings district) and, while in the vicinity of Waipawa, he sighted a war party comprising forces of Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Tuwharetoa, and tribes from inland Patea. He attacked them at Whitiotu on the Waipawa River and routed them.
In spite of this success Pareihe did not yet feel strong enough to reoccupy his lands and he returned to Mahia. Some of his people refused to go, however, and remained at Te Pakake, a small pa on a sandy islet near the present Ahuriri Station at Napier. There they were attacked by another mixed force of Waikato, Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Raukawa, and Ngati Maru. This was a powerful force of over 1,000 men, with 400 muskets. The weakly-held pa soon fell and most of its inmates were slain, although some important chiefs were taken back to Waikato as prisoners. Among those captured were the chiefs Tiakitai and Te Karawa. Te Wherowhero, the Waikato leader, took pity on these men and decided to return them to their tribe. He accordingly sent a message to Ngati Kahungunu at Mahia to send a party to Waikato where peace would be made and the captives returned. After some hesitation the invitation was accepted and peace was duly made.
But the saga of Te Roto a Tara was not yet ended. Late in 1826 a mixed war party of Ngati te Kohera of West Taupo, Ngati Raukawa, and others decided to make a determined effort to complete the conquest of the Heretaunga district. Led by Te Momo, they set out for Hawke's Bay after having been refused assistance by Te Wherowhero and Te Heuheu. They took over the Kahotea pa on the shore of Te Roto a Tara Lake and settled down there. News of this fresh incursion reached Pareihe at Mahia and, with the aid of the Ngapuhi Chief Te Wera, a war party of 2,000 men was assembled. They proceeded to Te Roto a Tara and made a successful assault on Kahotea. Te Momo was absent at the time of the attack, but was hunted and killed. This fight took place early in 1827. Te Wera returned to Mahia with some of the Ngati Kahungunu, but others remained in the Heretaunga district.
The remnants of Te Momo's force gradually built up their strength and reoccupied Te Roto a Tara pa. From there they made raids on Ngati Kahungunu as far as Napier. Pareihe was not the man to put up with this and once again he took a war party up the Tukituki River. The canoes were hauled overland to the lake from a point up stream from Patangata, and Pareihe settled down to a siege which lasted for two months. When the pa was without food Pareihe ferried a party across to the island at night. They hid in the raupo until dawn and then scaled the palisades. The pa was captured and almost all of its defenders were killed. This ended the attempt of Ngati Raukawa to settle in Hawke's Bay. A large section of the tribe had joined Te Rauparaha at Otaki about a year earlier and those who escaped from Te Roto a Tara joined them there.
This account of tribal warfare is confined to the exploits of a few tribes and makes no pretence of completeness. To achieve this would require many volumes. All that has been attempted is to illustrate by selected examples the nature of the intertribal clashes of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There are a number of tribal histories available which give much greater detail and much wider coverage. Some of these are listed below.
by Jock Malcolm McEwen, LL.B., Secretary, Department of Maori Affairs, Wellington.