Students from Ōtorohanga College, including Waimarama Anderson and Leah Bell, led a campaign for the creation of a national day of commemoration to mark the New Zealand Wars. Their petition to Parliament in 2012, signed by 12,000 people, also asked that the history of these wars be taught in schools and to local communities.

In this image students (from left) Rhiannon Magee, Leah Bell, Waimarama Anderson and Tai Te Ariki Jones are pictured at Parliament on the day they delivered the petition. They were accompanied by 1,500 supporters, including representatives from Tainui, Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tūhoe.

The first Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumahara national commemoration to mark the wars between the Crown and Māori was held in 2018 in Kororāreka, hosted by the iwi of Te Tai Tokerau. Since then the day has been marked each year, with events hosted in different locations around the country.

From 2023, a revised social studies curriculum mandated the teaching of New Zealand history, including the New Zealand Wars and their aftermath.