May 2018 Project Martha – Historical & Archaeological Background 5 Intertribal warfare, largely over the control of resources, continued across the wider Hauraki region throughout the 18th century and into the early 19th century; however, the musket raids of the 1820s, led by Ngapuhi from the north, proved the most destructive. Defending Hauraki warriors, armed only with traditional hand combat weapons such as mere and taiaha, were swiftly defeated. Most fled the invasion, leaving the region virtually deserted for several years.16 The majority of Hauraki inhabitants sought safety in the Waikato, where they made alliances with local tribes and were given permission to occupy certain lands. However, by the late 1820s relationships between Waikato Maori and Marutuahu had become strained and conflict eventually occurred with Ngati Haua, under the chief Te Waharoa, from Matamata. Battle culminated at Taumatawiwi around 1830 with both sides suffering heavy losses. At the cessation of fighting Marutuahu accepted an offer of safe passage by Te Waharoa to leave the district and return to the Hauraki, and they began to re-establish traditional occupation areas from around 1831.17 The Hauraki region remained an area of volatility throughout the 1830s (see Figure 5). Following the Ngapuhi raids, traditional rights to own and control land were further complicated by altered relationships between tribes and the fact that not all groups returned to the exact areas they had occupied 10 years prior.18 A zone of conflict existed around the Ohinemuri River area (including Waihi) and campaigns were launched by Ngati Tamatera, led by Taraia, to evict Ngati Haua from occupying Te Aroha and the surrounding land.19 The threat of violence between intertribal groups in the Ohinemuri area existed well into the 1840s and in 1846 the trader-settler Albert John Nicholas noted the fear of attack communicated by his Ngati Haua crew when accessing the Waihou River.20 During the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s (Figure 6) the Ohinemuri district became a stronghold for supporters of the Maori Kingitanga movement.21 The prevalence of Kingitanga support throughout the Ohinemuri district in part assisted its continued isolation during the New Zealand Wars, and the area (including Waihi) was not among those lands confiscated by the Crown at the cessation of hostilities. In the post-war years of the late 1860s Ohinemuri remained hostile and unsettled, with links to Te Kooti and the rise of the religious movement known as Pai Marire (or Hau Hauism).22 Following meetings between Pai Marire delegates and Te Hira Te Tuiri (of Te Matewaru a hapu of Ngati Tamatera), a leading figure in the Ohinemuri Kingitanga aukati, in 1867 Government officials were subsequently banned from entering the land.23 The opposition posed difficulties for the Crown, who were now interested in the Ohinemuri area as an extension of the Thames goldfield (whose southern boundary was fixed at Omahu Stream).24 Protracted negotiations continued throughout the late 1860s to early 1870s and in November 1869 a meeting between Ohinemuri Maori and E.W. Puckey, the 16 Waitangi Tribunal, The Hauraki Report (Volume One) Wai 686, Wellington, 2006, pp.44-46. 17 Ibid.; Barber 1985, pp.22-23. 18 Waitangi Tribunal, The Hauraki Report (Volume One) Wai 686, Wellington, 2006, p.47. 19 Ibid. 20 Barber 1985, p.23. 21 Waitangi Tribunal, The Hauraki Report (Volume Two) Wai 686, Wellington, 2006, p.409. 22 Pai Marire was founded by Te Ua Haumene in 1862 following a visitation by the Archangel Gabriel. The aim of the religion was the unification of all Maori and ‘salvation from the Pakehas’. Waitangi Tribunal, The Hauraki Report (Volume Two) Wai 686, Wellington, 2006, p.409; Barber, 1985, p.25. 23 Waitangi Tribunal, The Hauraki Report (Volume Two) Wai 686, Wellington, 2006, pp.409-410. 24 Ibid.
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