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myrifle.
Nowadays when people talk about colonialism they only talk about the worst aspects of it and recognise only the racist exploitative nature of it . In consequence they quite often have a very distorted view of it which in most cases is tailored to their own prejudices.
It is never, nor was it ever a simple issue. If one were forced to explain the British empire in the most simple terms it would be true to say that it was established to create markets for the disposal of the production of their industrial revolution. The basic motivation was trade and the enforced need to protect those trade interests.

Insofar as New Zealand was concerned this did not apply. The British government was not interested in colonising New Zealand in fact the new British colonies in Australia were forbidden to trade in Maoriland as it was then called and they were enjoined to leave the Maori alone.

British law ,however did not hold sway over other nations and ships of other nations,in particular the Yankee Whalers had a lucrative side line in trading guns for flax with the Maori. Russell was the main port of call for these ships.

The Maori were an extremely warlike people ever since the six canoes had arrived there from Polynesia centuries ago the descendants of those canoe occupants have been engaged in a savage war with each other. For a Maori to live was to be brave, For as long as they fought with their traditional weapons they manage to maintain a reasonable balance. The country is thickly dotted with Pa sites ( Maori fort ) which bespeak a fairly dense population and in which they could seek refuge in times of war

The arrival of the traders with guns dramatically changed all that . The Maori with the gun lived the Maori without the gun died,

This created a desperate need amongst the Maori to produce flax to trade for guns. They were unable to attend to their own foodstuff needs. To devote the time to the production of food crops meant no guns which in turn meant death . Starvation set in and this coupled with the gun induced massively enhanced death toll in their internecene wars embarked them on a course to extinction. In a very short time indeed the Maori population shrank dramatically.and would soon have ceased to exist

Back in Russell the traders still traded .There was no law other than that of the gun and Russell or Kororariki as it was then called became known as the hell hole of the Pacific.

Recognising these events and considering that they were occuring in their sphere of influence the Brits decided to do something about it. They sent over from New South Wales a magistrate and two police constables in the Queens uniform to impose law and order. This they did.(somthing similar brought many unwanted African colonies into the Empire)
Subsequently they persuaded the Maori chiefs to accept the permanent protection of the crown and signed a treaty with them at a place called Waitangi across the bay from Russell . Their was no coersion. The way things were going the chiefs appreciated the wisdom of the move especially since the treaty guaranteed the Maori people all of their traditional rights,
One chief ,however ,being a local strong man, decided that maybe it was not such a good deal for him and, not recognising, the binding nature of the treaty for the good of all .reneged and attacked Russell after chopping down the flagpole thus starting the first Maori war. the war was short lived but cost the Brits dearly and taught them a great respect for the Maori .A respect that I myself was taught as a schoolboy

It is worth noting that the settlers were greatly assisted in the fight by other Maori tribes who saw the treaty as their protection.

The second New zealand war was a great deal more complex and had its roots in land ownership and tenure.Companies were established to promote settlement in the colony. Land was needed for these settlers envious looks were directed at the immensly fertile lands of the Taranaki district .deals were done with one chief to the outrage of another Maori land title was never clear among themselves.Indeed it was so complex an issue that it has been said by one who should know that it all boiled down to -whoever was strong enough to occupy the land owned it. Traditional Maori rights were infringed Maoris reacted violently to some moves Their lands were confiscated as punishment and so on until it all erupted into the second New zealand war A longer and more bitter war than the first war and the effects of which are still echoing today.

Never at any time was a campaign mounted by the settlers to eradicate the Maouri (rather the reverse). The Brits did not do it that way Nowhere is this more evident than in the treatment of the indians in the US and Canada.The results were the same but the methods vastly different.

That is,in a nutshell,my understanding of the New Zealand wars. I am ready to stand corrected by any or all of our Kiwi members and would welcome thier views.

The fence in the photo is a fence around the grave.
The front fence of the church is about twenty feet behind the photographer.
I have not heard about the paper past project.Whats the adress?
A link for you- http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/subject-000002.html
If you can find a book entitled 'Old New Zealand' by a pakeha maori Frederick Edward Maning you will find it entertaining and informative

Sorry Grant. I see that my statement could be taken two ways. Pukka is correct about my intention.
I have always thought but never seen it mentioned that,like the Maori way of life,The Meti way of life was doomed . In the case of the Meti due to the slaughter of the Bison,and the fact of their land being required for settlement.How could the Meti,left to their own devices. have adjusted and survived

Old coaster You got that just about right but ,insofar as the Brits were concerned ,it was very much a matter of the flag following the trade and the imposition of law and order. Disorder and lawlessness obviously,are not good for trade.The Brits were amazingly adept at imposing and maintaining law and order on a vast spectrum of races and cultures. I think their secret was that they had people who understood and repected those cultures and their values and used them to their own ends
For those who are interested in the Zuklu campaign take note that the British ultimatum to the Zulus which brought on the war was delivered to the Zulu indunas under the canopy of a large fig tree. For the Zulus as with many other native cultures serious buisiness was carried out under the canopy of a tree .
In the ancient Welch mythology as it is recorded in The Mabinogen, There is a story called The Dream of Macsen .In this story which has a tenuous connection with the facts of history. a Roman emperor has a dream wherein he travels over a great distance and eventually arrives at a many turreted castle built of differently coloured stones and located on an estuary across a narrow straits from an island. In the castle lived a beautiful Queen .He fell in love with her, they married and produced a son who was the first of the Welsh princes and legitimate ruler.of the Welsh
So real was the dream that the Emporer sent out his people to find this castle.This they did and he married the queen and they produced a son who became the first native born ruler of Wales.That is the legend
Of all the castles that King Edward built around Wales to impose his hegemony over the Welch Carnavon Castle is different .It is many turreted ,built of different coloured stones and located on an estuary across the Menai straits from the island of Anglesea .In short it exactly matches the castle described in the Dream of Macsen.
It was in that castle that Edward had his son crowned Prince of Wales and where every first born son of the English Monarchs has been crowned prince of Wales ever since. That is how the Brits have done it for centuries

Richardvw I certainly agree with your comments.They illustrate my point very well ./It could never be said that Daniel Boone and his ilk.did not understand the indian culture they would not have survived otherwise The French were very good at it too.How else could they both have got the indians to do their fighting for them.