New Zealand Wars

Historian Vincent O'Malley says Labour Day is an opportunity for New Zealanders to visit sites important to the New Zealand Wars - Rā Maumahara.   Audio

Let's go back again to the 160th anniversary of the battle of Ōrākau, where dignitiries have gathered to remember the most famous of the New Zealand Wars.

The battle in 1864, which took place east of… Audio

On 13 June 1843, European settlers headed to the Wairau Valley, planning arrests. A gun battle broke out, killing 26, including Pākehā prisoners executed in the aftermath. What happened? And why? Audio

Tensions over Wairau land and injustices against Ngāti Toa leaders reached their boiling point. Nelson settlement leader Arthur Wakefield seized the land by force, but there would be tragic results. Audio

The new school curriculum of Aotearoa's history is in the process of making its way into practice. And it's likely to ruffle a few feathers along the way. Joanna Kidman and Vincent O'Malley are with… Audio

In the second of Black Sheep's two part episode on Sir George Grey, Aotearoa is launched into the worst conflicts of the New Zealand Wars. For more on the Waikato War, watch and listen to Stories of… Audio

Sir George Grey led Aotearoa into some of the worst conflicts of the New Zealand Wars. But at the beginning of his career many saw him as a defender of indigenous rights - including some Māori! So… Audio

A new documentary with accompanying podcast casts fresh light on a campaign in the New Zealand Wars. NZ Wars: Stories of Tainui is the third part of a series produced for RNZ by Great Southern… Audio

In part two of Black Sheep's series on Edward Gibbon Wakefield we see theories of "systematic" and "humanitarian" colonisation run into bitter realities. The result is conflict, death and disaster… Audio

In the lead up to He Rā Maumahara - the New Zealand Wars Day of Remembrance - Auckland Museum ran a poetry competition to reflect on what the wars mean today. Audio

The New Zealand Wars are discussed by historian Vincent O'Malley and Mihingarangi Forbes in front of an audience at Te Papa. Audio

As British troops leave, settler militia enter the fray. Some Māori chose to fight alongside the Crown while others join new religious movements, which seem to promise a way out of the conflict.  Audio

Hunger for land and the rise of Kingitanga prompted Governor George Grey to invade Waikato in 1863. Fighting spread over years and into the Bay of Plenty, devastating Maori. But it was not as… Audio

Students, teachers and historians are welcoming the government's announcement that New Zealand history will be taught as a compulsory subject in schools by 2022. But is this too big a task for our… Audio

In part two, how Gustavus von Tempsky went from a relatively famous soldier to the uber-hero of NZ colonial history. Audio

He was larger than life, a warrior and artist who's legend has only grown since his death in 1868.... but Gustavus von Tempsky had a dark side Audio

Kimble Bent was one of a tiny handful of Europeans who switched sides during the New Zealand Wars, who deserted the British army to join Maori "rebels" in Taranaki. RNZ's Black Sheep podcast tells the… Audio

Shannon Haunui-Thompson explores whether a day to mark the New Zealand Wars will ever truly become a national event. Video, Audio