New Zealand Wars

Where can I find information about the New Zealand Wars during the 1840s to 1870s?

(Years 11-13)

Black and white illustration of Kororāreka (Russell) beach in the Bay of Islands. — Image: Kororāreka (Russell) 1844 from Archives NZ on DigitalNZ. CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.

Entry last updated: 6/08/26

Introduction

Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa | the New Zealand Wars were a series of battles and smaller conflicts that took place between the 1840s and the 1870s. They were fought between iwi Māori and government forces, which included British and colonial troops and their Māori allies.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, but pressure on Māori to sell their land grew as more European settlers arrived. Some land was taken over by settlers or the colonial government, or bought for very little by organisations like the New Zealand Company. This caused disputes over land control, sovereignty, and different understandings of te Tiriti | the Treaty.

In the past, these conflicts were sometimes known as The Māori Wars or The Land Wars.

The Wars

The New Zealand Wars were fought across different locations in the North Island, with one incident in Wairau in the South Island.

Here is when and where the major New Zealand Wars took place:

The Wairau Affray (1843)
War in the North (1845 to 1846)
War in Wellington and Whanganui (1845 to 1847)
War in Taranaki (1860 to 1861 and 1864 to 1866)
War in the Waikato (1863 to 1865)
War in Tauranga (1864)
The East Coast Wars (1865 to 1866)
The story of Tītokowaru (1868 to 1869)
The story of Te Kooti (1868 to 1872)

These websites will help you find information about where and why each of the wars was fought.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we look down to the bottom of the page, we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Go to Stories A-Z.
Choose the letter N.
Select New Zealand Wars.
Find stories about the different wars fought across Aotearoa New Zealand.
You will also find links to the names of important people, such as Te Kooti and Titokowaru, and the long-term impact of the war.

NZ History

This is another great place for information about events in Aotearoa New Zealand history. It also belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage.

From the front page, find the section on New Zealand at War, then look at New Zealand's internal wars.
The link New Zealand's 19th-century wars is a brief overview of all the internal wars fought.
Explore the links on The Wairau incident, War in Taranaki 1860-63, War in Waikato and the other New Zealand Wars.
There are also links to campaigns by Titokowaru and Te Kooti, including the role of the religious movement called Pai Mārire.
Remember to check out all the images, biographies, related content and further information to learn more about this topic.

Tips: Sites that have .govt.nz or .ac.nz are from NZ government or educational organisations. We like sites like this because they’re reliable and relevant to us.

New Zealand History Collection (BWB)

This is one of the EPIC resources with lots of e-books on New Zealand history. Below is a list of books on the New Zealand Wars written by famous New Zealand historians.

The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800 - 2000. Vincent O'Malley's book focuses on the origins of the war, its aftermath and human impact.
The New Zealand Wars: Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa. Another book by Vincent O'Malley. It explains why the New Zealand Wars happened, what took place, and what effects they had.
I Shall Not Die — Titokowaru’s War, 1868–1869. This book by James Belich covers the life of Tītokowaru and his campaign in Taranaki.
Redemption Songs: A Life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki. This title by Judith Binney is about Te Kooti, his life and fight against the confiscation of Māori land and land purchases during the New Zealand Wars.

Tips: To use the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians. Your public library may have some EPIC databases too.

Te Rangi Aoao Nunui

This online collection of historical and cultural stories is from the New Plymouth Library and Museum. It's a good place to find local information on the Taranaki Wars, which took place between 1860 and 1866.

Select Ngā Kōrero Katoa | Story Collections at the top of the page.
Go down the list and choose Taranaki Stories.
Read about Kimble Bent, Lucy Takiora Lord and Major von Tempsky and the part they played in the Taranaki War.
Pekapeka Block: Where the Taranaki Wars Start and Whiteley Township: A History of Conflict and Mistrust are other stories about the conflict.

Tips: Museums and libraries are great places to find out about local history and events.

Pae Korokī

This is a digital collection from Tauranga City Libraries. It has information about the wars of that region.

Go to Stories.
Then choose Battle at Pukehinahina, 1864 (Event).
This links to stories, publications, archives and more about the Battle of Gate Pā and Te Ranga.

Radio New Zealand (RNZ)

Radio New Zealand has broadcasts, podcasts and series on news and current affairs. It also has some useful programmes on New Zealand history.

Go to the tab Podcasts, then go down the page to find Essential history listens.
Find the link to The Aotearoa History Show.
Watch or listen to New Zealand Wars (Part 1) and New Zealand Wars (Part 2).
To find another series, use the search bar to enter 'The NZ Wars Collection'. Select from the options that appear, for example, Stories of Wairau | Episode 1.

Tips: Company websites (with .com or .co) can have useful info, but we need to check how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

The New Zealand Wars

This website about the New Zealand Wars belongs to Māori historian and writer Danny Keenan. It offers a Māori view on the wars fought between Māori and the Crown.

Select the tab Maps of the Wars to see the main campaign areas.
Go down the home page to Overview to explore Causes, Campaigns and Consequences.
Then, look under Aspects of the Wars for a timeline highlighting the most important events and dates of the wars.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. The paragraph at the top of the page tells you why this website was written. Also check Danny Keenan's Published Works to find a link to Writing this site. This is about the author and what went into writing this website.

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

This is the part of Te Ara where you can find the stories of people who played a part in shaping New Zealand history.

Use the alphabetical letters to find the person's last name.
Have a look for information on Governor George Grey, Te Rauparaha and Rewi Maniapoto.

Legacy of war

These websites have information on the impact of the New Zealand Wars on the people and history of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Kooti Whenua Māori | Māori Land Court

This court was set up by the government to support Māori land ownership. They also maintain accurate records for the succession and management of Māori land.

Go to the section called Ngā heke | Who we are
Select Our history.
This gives an overview of the court's function, history and current purpose.

Waitangi Tribunal | Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi

The Waitangi Tribunal was established by the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It investigates Māori claims that the New Zealand Crown breached under te Tiriti o Waitangi |the Treaty of Waitangi. It recommends ways to resolve those issues and support reconciliation.

Look under the section called About.
This explains the history of the Tribunal, why it was set up and the different types of claims it deals with.

Tips: Sites that have .govt.nz or .ac.nz are from NZ government or educational organisations. We like sites like this because they’re reliable and relevant to us.

Hōpara Kaupapa | Topic Explorer

Topic Explorer has a topic with resources that cover the legacy and impact of the New Zealand Wars.

Use the keywords 'New Zealand Wars' in the search box.
Go to the topic New Zealand Wars — General resources and legacy.
Use the tabs to select primary sources or content with te ao Māori perspective.

DigitalNZ

DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history. It brings together results from lots of different websites. Results are organised by type, including images, audio, video, articles and research papers.

Try searching for 'New Zealand Wars' and different combinations of search words.
Look under Videos to find the documentary called The New Zealand Wars, presented by historian James Belich.
You could go to the tab Collection, then select Radio New Zealand YouTube.
Then look at NZ Wars: Stories of Tainui | Documentary | RNZ.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. It's good try to different keywords about your topic. Especially if you know there are other names for what you are looking for, like 'New Zealand Wars', 'Māori Wars' or 'Land Wars'.

Australia New Zealand Reference Centre Plus

Another EPIC resource, this site is a great place to find newspaper and magazine articles from New Zealand and Australia.

Try a general search for 'New Zealand Wars' or pick a particular war to search for eg 'Battle of Gate Pā'.
Tick the Full Text box on the side of the search results to see articles you can read online.

Tips: To use the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians. Your public library may have some EPIC databases too.

Primary sources

Primary sources are things like letters, images, diaries, and other documents created during that period of history or soon after by people who were there.

Hōpara Kaupapa | Topic Explorer

Topic Explorer is from the National Library of New Zealand. It has quality resources on different topics for school students.

Use the search bar to enter the words 'New Zealand Wars'.
The results will bring up all the wars, such as the New Zealand Wars — Tauranga 1864.
Each of the wars includes primary sources and resources with te ao Māori perspective.

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC)

NZETC is part of the Victoria University of Wellington Library. It has many digital versions of old books and other historical information about New Zealand written at the time the event happened.

Look under Subjects to find New Zealand History.
Then select New Zealand Wars History.

Tips: Many of the books relevant to this topic will be publications which often can't be borrowed. Use the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre to find full-text versions of old New Zealand history books that are no longer publised.

Papers Past

This site has digitised versions of some early New Zealand newspapers. It is a good place to look for primary sources.

Select Newspapers.
Remember to change the search options. For example, narrow the date range and look at the North Island papers.
Early on, the wars were known as 'The Maori Wars'. Keep that in mind when you search and look through results.
You can also use Papers Past to check through Magazines and Journals, Letters and Diaries and Parliamentary Papers of the time.

New Zealand History Collection (BWB)

This is one of the EPIC resources with lots of e-books on New Zealand history.

Look for the book Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O'Malley.
Choose a chapter from the contents.
These have first hand accounts from people in the conflicts.