( "Maori")

Maori

Early 1800's Muskets becoming more widely introduced giving rise to a series of wars among the iwi (tribes).

1831.  April 16. Maori Traditions. The Governor of N.S.W. outlawed the trade in dried Maori heads as curios.  concerned that heads were being traded by Pakehas, Maori gradually ceased to preserve them.

1835 Declaration of Independence by the United Tribes of New Zealand signed by some 34 Northern chiefs.

1975 Waitangi Tribunal established to start long process of resolving Maori claims for lost lands and taonga (treasures).

1992 Maori 1992 Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission set up to administer fisheries assets on behalf of Maori, one third of the commercial fishing quota also transferred to Maori hands through Sealord Agreement.

1995 The Queen in person assented to the Act offering an apology and major compensation under the Waikato Raupatu Settlement (Tainui Agreement), the first of the large Maori iwi settlements under the latest Waitangi Treaty claims legislation. 196 Heads of Agreement reached between the Crown and the Ngai Tahu iwi concerning Treaty claims affecting virtually the whole South Island.

Military

1840  April 16.  The first British soldiers took up permanent station in New Zealand at Auckland.  They comprised two companies, 150 men, of the 80th Regiment.

1843  Maori Wars. June 17.  The first major clash between Maoris and Europeans of the New Zealand War, 1843-47 occurred when a dispute between Maori chiefs and the New Zealand Company over the ownership of land in the Wairau Valley led to the "Wairau Affray".  22 Europeans and four Maoris were killed on the banks of the Tuamarina Stream in Marlborough.  Arthur Wakefield was amongst those  killed.

1844 Maori Wars.  July 8  The Maori Chief Hone Heke cut the Flagstaff down at Kororareka, for the first time.

1845 Maori Wars.  January 9.  Hone Heke cut the Flagstaff down for the second time, and upon its re-erection cut it down a third time a short time later.
...March 11.  Hone Heke again cut the Flagstaff down for the fourth time.  It was not erected again until 1858.
...May 3.  Maori Wars.  The first major European offensive of the New Zealand Wars occurred at Puketutu when 400 troops unsuccessfully attacked Hone Heke's pa.  Hone Heke and Kawiti built a second pa at Ohaewai.

1845-1846  Maori Wars.  Members of the Wellington Militia built and staffed redoubts and stockades at Thorndon and in the Hutt Valley.

1846.  Maori Wars. Skirmishes occurred between Maoris and naval and army units around Wellington in 1846 at Taita, Boulcott's Farm, Pauatahanui and the Horokiri Valley, cased by factors typical of the New Zealand Wars.  The Maoris who had sold land around Wellington Harbour to the New Zealand Company were members of the Ati Awa tribe who had settled the district under the patronage of its main conquerors and owners, the Ngati Toa but the At Awa had neglected to consult their overlords about the sales.  Not without justification therefore the Ngati Toa did not recognise the validity of the transactions and harassed the English settlers.  Most Europeans involved in the skirmishes had no knowledge of these complexities and presumed the Maoris were simply being aggressive.

1847 Maori Wars.  July 23.  The last conflict of the New Zealand War occurred at St. John's Wood, Wanganui, as an aftermath skirmishes just north of Wellington the previous year.  Part of the battleground is now within the grounds of Wanganui Collegiate School.

1860 Maori Wars,  January 25.  Martial La was proclaimed in Taranaki Province and the militia were called out  in New Plymouth after a dispute between government agents and Maori over ownership of the Waitara Block.  This marked the start of the second phase of the New Zealand Wars, which lasted until 1872.  The main conflicts ended in the Waikato in 1864 with extensive confiscations of tribal lands.

1872. Maori Wars. February 11.  The final engagement of the New Zealand Wars took place at Mangaone south of Waikaremoana on the East Coast. Arawa troops loyal to the government fired on the retreating forces of Te Kooti whose rebellion against the government had started when he was wrongfully arrested and deported to the Chatham Islands in 1865.

1914  WORLD WAR I.  August 5.  New Zealand joined Britain in declaring war on Germany
...August 12.  Britain accepted New Zealand's offer of an Expeditionary Force.
...August 15.  At the request of Britain, New Zealand sent 1,413 volunteer troops to occupy German Samoa, where they landed unopposed at Apia on August 29.
...16 October.  8417 volunteers, most of them ex-Territorials, sailed from Wellington and joined by Australian transport sips, arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, on 3 November.  The largest body of men ever to leave New Zealand, they became known as the "Main Body".

1915 February 3.  New Zealanders saw first combat in World War I in Egypt when they repulsed a Turkish attack across the Suez Canal.  A Pte. William Ham from Wanganui became the first New Zealand soldier to lose his life, dying from wounds on February 4.
...25 April.  The Australian and New Zealand Corps (ANZAC) landed at what became known as Anzac Cove on Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula.  In conjunction with British and French forces in the area, the aim was to secure the Dardanelles and force Turkey out of the war, thus gaining

(Military continued)