Part of my vacation included a trip to a New Zealand museum of history. The Tawhiti Museum covered a wide range of NZ histories, but one of the most fascinating was the topic of the Maori and the New Zealand Wars. I have since been reading more and watching other historical documentaries. The story of the conflict between the Maori and the British is unique unto this Earth. The realities of the NZ landscape, people, and remoteness made what I see as one of the most important histories to be told.
This country is far, far away from the European world. In the 1800’s NZ might as well have been the moon. The Queen of England was a long way from these shores. The Pakeha (non-Maori colonists and those born in NZ) therefore could not depend on much support from the Crown. They became self-sufficient, tenacious, and surprisingly resourceful. While their numbers exceeded that of the Maori population by ratios often 10 to 1, they never possessed the overwhelming numbers of the North American colonisation. Ultimately, the steady flow of European settlers did win out—but only just barely. Strangely though what is left today lacks much cultural distinction. Pakeha do not consider themselves part of the UK Commonwealth, not part of the Crown, not part of West or the US Allies, and in no way part of Australia. They are Kiwi and that is about as far as you get. The Maori on the other hand, have a vibrant history that is a juxtaposition of brutality and respect—warfare and yet pacifism. They appear as “savage” tribes in pictures, but they contained a brilliance and vision at levels that I have not seen matched in any other culture. What is most important is that they have survived very much intact—and this fact is stunning. It is the only example of real cultural survival I have encountered in European / “Native” interaction. Perhaps it resonates more strongly with me as an American as a counterpoint to the tragic history of the Native American nations of my home.
The landscape of New Zealand is world renown. This island is large, yet comparably small to most nations. But its topography is dramatic. Dominated in the North by steep rocky ranges, even modern day navigation is difficult. A journey on the State Motorway of only 200 km (124 miles) will easily take over 4 hours due to mountainous terrain. Think now of non-mechanical travel on the rough hewn tracks of the 1800’s. Also think about how goods from the “modern” world were months of boat travel away. When things did not go well, you had to work with what you had. When the Maori / Pakeha conflicts began resources were extremely limited. This worked in the favour of the Maori who were much better adapted to warfare in the New Zealand environment. What is most surprising are the masterful innovations the Maori made with the introduction of European military technology. The Maori quickly adapted to using muskets and avidly worked to acquire them. Virtually overnight they adapted their fortresses (or Pa) to withstand artillery barrages! In 1843 the Maori had already developed defensive trenching as a means to provide cover to their warriors. The Colonial Militia / Military were confounded by enemies they could not shoot nor dislodge with canon. They were forced to charge well defended and brilliantly designed Pa at heavy losses. Often these attacks simply failed. When they did succeed the Maori would escape through tunnels to the bush leaving the British born generals with nothing but a meaningless field victory. New Pa’s would appear overnight just a few miles away and the process would begin again. The bush itself was impenetrable to a conventional army.
In spite of the successes in fighting, the most influential Maori leaders could see that eventually the Crown would win a military conflict. The King Movement was a mostly passive resistance to Pakeha. It survived in parallel to the military confrontations lead by other Maori springing up around it. This movement I find most interesting. They did not fight the Pakeha in combat. These Maori negotiated and resisted politically. What is also noteworthy here is that the colonists listened and also negotiated. The concept of complex land sovereignty, courts, and deed filing were not known to the Maori prior to the arrival of the Pakeha. The Maori again demonstrated their keen intuition and intelligence to learn these systems and concepts to challenge the Crown by its own rules. Sometimes this conflict turned out as it had in North America where agreements were simply ignored, but more frequently they were honoured. But most important of all they were remembered with documented proof of these agreements. While these may have been ignored in the 1800’s, they are still considered valid today. Today the people of New Zealand would see these treaties followed.
The Maori have survived. This story is unbelievable, but true. The Maori are far from perfect. Their history is quite violent. The tribes (or iwi) of the Maori were still very independent of each other (and fought each other) much like the North American tribes. But the iwi did eventually join together and even when separated they knew to defend the land. The Maori language is still alive, spoken and taught. This year the Maori flag will fly during Waitangi Day—that’s a big deal. The Maori control 4 seats in the NZ parliament as a result of efforts of the King Movement negotiations. That’s like 4 seats in the US Senate for Native Americans. In fact, the very ground parliament is built on is owned by the Maori and leased to the government. While not guaranteed, I am elated to believe that this culture may survive well in to this modern age. From what I see, New Zealand is place where things survive that have died out elsewhere and that is good.
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