Walk 14 – Te Teo’s Pa, 28 Jan 2019
This walk changed the way I look at the past. I’ve learned about the New Zealand land wars and now have a better appreciation for the hurt caused to the Maori. The actions of the British in the 1860’s caused injustice we’re still paying for.
This is from the information boards: “Overlooking the confluence of the Whangamarino and Waikato Rivers, this old pa was briefly re-occupied in July by a Maori force led by the Ngati Mahuta chief Te Huiraima.
They were opposing the advance of British forces along the Koheroa Ridge to the north.
Thirty Maori warriors died in the skirmishing, Te Huiraima among them. They were eventually forced back and moved south across the Whangamarino River.
By August 1863 Lieutenant General Cameron’s soldiers had occupied the deserted pa and built a redoubt nearby – Whangamarino Redoubt, 150 metres to the east.
Today, the main features on the pa is this ditch and bank defence cut across the end of the ridge. The bank is likely to have been surmounted with timber palisades.”
Whangamarino Redoubt
From this site, the British shelled Meremere which is 3-4 kms south.
War in the Waikato
Governor George Grey ordered the troops led by Cameron to invade the Waikato, because of their lust for land. “Ultimately, the war was fought over one million acres of fertile farmland that, by mid 1864, was entirely under British control.”
“It was (Grey’s general) Cameron, not William Hobson at Waitangi, who sounded the death knell of Maori independance.” Unsurprisingly and understandably it looks like Cameron’s image has been slashed at.
Walk: Waikato 12
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