North Taranaki, where New Zealand’s ‘war of sovereignty’ began
War broke out in North Taranaki in March 1860. The issue over which the war commenced was a block of land, called the Pekapeka Block, now for the most part covered by the township of Waitara in North Taranaki.
An Issue of Land
In 1859, a local Te Atiawa chief, Te Teira offered to sell the Pekapeka Block to the Crown, an offer he had made on a number of earlier occasions. Many other Maori objected to the sale. Those objecting were led by Wiremu Kingi, regarded by Te Atiawa as their paramount chief. Wiremu Kingi therefore spoke for all Te Atiawa, especially for those who were actually living on the block itself (about 2000). His customary right to oppose the sale far outweighed the right of Te Teira to force a sale through.
The Crown was caught in a bind; but not for long. The Governor, Thomas Gore Browne, had just announced a new Government policy – that the Government would accept any offer of land from any individual Maori who wished to sell. No Maori of supposed rank or customary status would be permitted to obstruct this policy. As Gore Browne saw it, it was a matter of the Governor General against paramount Maori – which one was to have the ultimate authority? Maori must not be permitted to ursurp the authority of the Crown, he said. Therefore, the sale would go through, provided Te Teira’s title to the land could be confirmed.
An Issue of Authority
This decision angered Te Atiawa, who were not about to allow the Crown to occupy the disputed Block. Wiremu Kingi warned the Governor that ‘he did not desire war against the Pakeha’ -but he would not allow the sale to proceed.
When an attempt was later made to survey the Block, Te Atiawa obstructed the surveyors and removed them from the area. The Governor saw this action of obstruction as tantamount to treason. Māori were instructed to apologize, and to remove themselves from the Block. Te Atiawa refused. Instead, they hastily built a defensive Pa at Te Kohia, symbolically sited just inside the southeastern corner of the Block. On March 17, 1860, the British Army marched out from New Plymouth and opened fire on the Pa, thus commencing what is generally called the ‘First Taranaki War’.
17 March 1860 The British Army opened fire on Te Kohia Pā, near Waitara, where Te Ātiawa were entrenched and awaiting battle, under the leadership of Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake.
Māori had been ordered to leave the area, or suffer the consequences, but they had refused, bitterly contesting the sale and loss of the land block on which Te Kohia stood. During the night, when fighting had ceased, Māori vacated the Pā.
28 March 1860 The Battle of Waireka, was just to the south of New Plymouth. It was fought between the British Army and volunteer settlers against Māori from South Taranaki who had come north to support those at war near Waitara.
27 June 1860 Battle of Puketekauere, where the British Army, approaching a hill top fortification in two columns, came under rapid fire from Māori concealed in bush and gullies surrounding the fortification. The British Regulars quickly fell back to their camp in Waitara, but not before sustaining heavy losses – thirty men killed and 34 wounded.
6 November 1860 Having recovered from the losses sustained at Puketekauere, the British Army marched out from New Plymouth to attack a low fortification at Mahoetahi.
Māori from the King Country had traveled south to join Te Ātiawa in their war against the Crown, they dug in at Mahoetahi, preparing to face the British. Through superior equipment and firepower, the British prevailed, inflicting heavy losses upon Māori – fifty dead and 60 wounded.
30 December 1860 – 10 February 1861 After their defeat at Mahoetahi, the war turned against Te Ātiawa who, thereafter, retreated slowly up the Waitara River, fighting as they went. A skirmish at Matarikoriko on 30 December 1860 cost three British lives and six Māori.
A determined Māori assault on No 3 Redoubt followed on 23 January 1861. This attack, launched after dark, devastated Te Ātiawa, costing a further fifty lives with forty injured. A further attack on No 7 Redoubt two weeks later led to more Māori losses.
17 March 1861 Following these unsuccessful assaults and skirmishes, Māori retreated further up the Waitara River and dug in at Te Arei Pā, awaiting the oncoming British Army. 
British tactics focused upon sapping, building trenches that approached the Pā, concealing the British Regulars who were well supported by artillery fire. On 17 March 1861, after an effective siege at Te Arei Pā, a truce was brokered between the British Army and Māori, bringing the North Taranaki war to an end.
To read Danny’s essay on the life of Wiremu Kingi Rangitake of Waitara, see Wiremu Kingi. The reference is: Danny Keenan, ‘For House and Home’. Mana Magazine, No 40, 2001, pp.78-79.
To see a map of the North Taranaki conflicts, alongside the other fields of engagement that together comprised the ‘New Zealand Wars’, see Map of Conflicts.