Setting the record straight on extraordinary New Zealand Wars mass abduction

Te Kooti's Last Foray

The extraordinary story of Te Kooti’s 1870 abduction of two Whakatōhea communities into the Waioeka Gorge and how Whanganui’s pursuit won the day but never the credit

Ron Crosby

The evidence in support of the conclusions drawn is compelling. This book is well worth the read.’ 

— Justice Sir (Tā) Joe Williams, from the Foreword

Previous histories of the New Zealand Wars have either overlooked the events that are retold in Te Kooti’s Last Foray, or have got them wrong by relying on questionable accounts by Lieutenant Thomas Porter. 

Te Kooti

The key facts are these: in March 1870, on the run from government forces and seeking to challenge their authority, Māori leader Te Kooti and his followers abducted 218 Whakatōhea people from Ōmarumutu and Ōpape, near Ōpōtiki in the Bay of Plenty — marching them back into Te Urewera and constructing a pā called Waipuna.

This constituted one of the largest abductions in New Zealand history, and subjected the captives (largely old people, women and children) to extreme hardship, traversing rugged forest and river valleys.

 

The government forces tracking Te Kooti — mostly Whanganui forces under the command of Major Kēpa Te Rangihiwinui and Ngāti Porou led by Major Ropata Wahawaha — headed into Te Urewera in pursuit. 

After formidable feats of marching and scouting, Whanganui took Waipuna pā and secured the release of all the captives on 24 March, although Te Kooti was able to escape.

Accounts by Porter, who fought with Wahawaha, formed the primary source for later historians — and he gave credit for the successful outcome to Ngāti Porou. 

Samuel Austin, whose diaries cast new light on the 1870 events

The recent emergence of diaries written by another Pākehā soldier, Samuel Austin, who served with Whanganui, have revealed the inaccuracy of Porter’s account, and informed Ron Crosby’s painstaking fieldwork.

This is a book based on walking the ground, not solely on written records. Over many years Ron Crosby has tramped the Urewera forests to retrace the steps of Te Kooti and his pursuers. 

That legwork deeply informs Te Kooti’s Last Foray, and enables pinpoint location of where events took place — including Waipuna pā, a site largely forgotten for 150 years. 

Annotated photos taken in the depths of Te Urewera, detailed maps, and sketches by artist Stu Spicer (who has accompanied Ron in the area) bring to life this gripping episode, which was to prove pivotal in Te Kooti’s move away from armed resistance and towards spiritual leadership.

The author

Ron Crosby burst onto the publishing scene in 1999 with his landmark The Musket Wars (still in print through Oratia Books), and has followed that with a wide range of books,  including Gilbert Mair: Te Kooti’s Nemesis (2004), NZSAS: The First Fifty Years (2009), Kūpapa (2015) and most recently The Forgotten Wars: Why the Musket Wars matter today (Oratia Books, 2020). Formerly a barrister, Ron was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2011. His interest in te ao Māori is constantly reinforced by his whānau relationships, his wife Margy being of Te Rarawa and Te Aupoūri descent. They live in Blenheim (see www.roncrosby.co.nz).

Publication: 8 August 2023  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004234-8 | RRP $49.99

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm portrait, 280 pages, b&w with 16 pages colour

 

Concise introduction to the New Zealand Wars adds a further dimension to The NZ Series

The New Zealand Wars  

Matthew Wright

Respected historian Matthew Wright has condensed his years of research and writing on the New Zealand Wars into this concise guide for readers of all ages. 

 

Building on his major works on the subject including the masterful Two Peoples, One Land (2006), Wright here consolidates his analysis into one introductory book full of illustrations, sidebars, boxes and maps. 

At 100 pages, The New Zealand Wars has over 70 images, many in colour, showing historical paintings as well as modern photos that can help direct visitors to battle sites today.

 

Why did the New Zealand Wars occur? Who fought them and how did they proceed? Where were these battles fought?

The New Zealand Wars answers these questions in probing text.

It introduces the wars’ major incidents, movements and people — including the Battle of Gate Pa and Pai Marire, and figures such as Colonel G.S. Whitmore and Te Kooti. 

Wright shows that the wars, which pitted British settlers and allied Māori against other Māori from 1845 to 1872, really ended up as a civil war fanning flames in many regions.

The New Zealand Wars is the fifth in The NZ Series, for a general and school readership, and tailored to the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum.

Click on these links to read about other titles in the series — Rush to Riches, Pioneer Women, Volcanoes and Earthquakes and First Encounters.

The author

Matthew Wright is the author of over 60 books on a wide range of topics for all ages, principally New Zealand history. A highly respected historian, he is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His other books with Oratia are Freyberg — A Life’s Journey and The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front. He lives in Wellington.

Publication: 8 July 2021  |  RRP $29.99  |  ISBN:  978-0-947506-93-3

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 100 pages, colour