War Begins
Volkners church in Opotiki with soldiers in defensive positions during the campaign against the Hauhau.
The starting point of the East Coast Wars is thought to be on 2 March 1865 when missionary Carl Volkner was murdered outside a church in Opotiki. This resulted in outrage from the European settlers in the area who pleaded with the Government to take action against those responsible. The problems started when the Government were unable to free up any men as most of them were fighting in the, still raging, war in Taranaki and it would another 5 months before they were able to send the resources to the East Coast to deal with the murder. In September 1865 the Government shipped the Patea Rangers and the Forest Rangers along with a large contingent of Maori from the Taranaki area. The arrival of the Pai Marere (or Hauhau) movement at this time caused more conflict by creating a civil war among Ngati Porou who are one of the major tribes on the East Coast. Pai Marere was created when Horopapera, a member of Ngati Porou, saw the angel Gabriel in a vision that he had which inspired him to found the movement. Pai Marere, meaning ‘good and peaceful’, started off as just that but as the religion grew, more and more fanatic followers joined which made the Hauhau into what it was during the East Coast Wars. Over the few months after the Governments deployment into the East Coast there were a number of battles fought between the Hauhau and Government troops with
Te Awiata – A Kupapa warrior photographed in the late 1860’s.
the Government winning on almost every occasion. Before this time the Hauhau warriors had not come across a force of the size and equipment of the Government troops. These victories were mainly due to their advanced weapons, tactics and leadership. In October 1865 a Hauhau group attacked a group of Ngati Porou women who were armed with little more than a few shotguns and rocks to defend themselves with. The loyalist members of Ngati Porou were extremely angered by these attacks on  non-military personnel. Ropata Wahawaha, a war chief in Ngati Porou, led a contingent that tracked down the Hauhau responsible for this attack and personally executed the Hauhau who came from his own sub-tribe.
Early in November 1865, a large group of Hauhau built a Pa on the outskirts of a European settlement in Poverty Bay, just out of Gisborne. The Pa contained 200 rebels which mainly consisted of rebels who had fled to safety after fighting in the North. On 12 November, 250 loyal Ngati Porou members along with Major Ropata and his 300 men were assembled to deal with the threat. The government troops surrounded the Pa, using a nearby house and digging bunkers for cover. After several days of fighting, and the Hauhau rebels suffering major casualties after a number of attempted advancements, had been defeated with 400 men being taken captive. A few rebels were able to escape but the fighting had left over 100 Hauhau dead and a similar number wounded. Whereas, the government troops suffered only 11 losses and about 20 wounded. It was while fighting in this battle that Te Kooti Arikirangi was arrested by the accusation of him being a Hauhau spy. His own troops had allegedly seen him removing bullets from the cartridges and firing blank bullets at the Hauhau rebels. On 25 November 1865, Te Kooti was arrested and sent into exile on the Chatham Islands without a trial.
Pai Marire male and female warriors from circa 1866
Following Te Kooti’s escape from the Chatham Islands, he and his followers attacked Matawhero, a township on the outskirts of Gisborne in November 1868. This resulted in the death of 54 people which was made up of both Maori and Pakeha people. this attack was horrifically bad because of the brutal nature in which Te Kooti’s men attacked civilians, which included women and children. Some historians believe this attack to be a revenge attack by Te Kooti for his false imprisonment without trial. After this Te Kooti was pursued by Government troops and loyal Maori forces resulting in the start of a new phase of the East Coast Wars.