Hōne Heke

Hone Heke with his wife Hariata, circa 1845

Hone Wiremu Heke Pokai (1807? – August 6, 1850) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader in Northern New Zealand and a nephew of Hongi Hika, an earlier war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi. Hone Heke is considered the principal instigator of the Flagstaff War.

Biography

Born at Pakaraka south of Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, Heke was a highly influential chief of the Ngāpuhi tribe. He grew up in the Kaikohe area, scarcely surviving the vicissitudes of tribal warfare during the late musket war period. As a youth, he attended the mission school at Kerikeri and came under the influence of the missionary, Henry Williams. Subsequently he, his wife and his children were converted to Christianity, and Hone Heke became a lay preacher.

However, it was as a warrior and as a leader of a Māori rebellion that Hone Heke is best known. He took part in the first battle of Kororareka in 1830, in Titore's expedition to Tauranga, and fought with Titore against Pomare II in 1837. There are conflicting reports of when Heke signed the Treaty of Waitangi. It may have been with the other chiefs on February 6, 1840, but the treaty was soon found to be not to his liking.

Some Māori became discontented after the signing of the treaty. Both before and after the signing of the treaty American traders and the American consul poisoned the relationship between Heke and his British rulers. The British representative became concerned at the flying of the American Ensign on land. Letters from William Williams, recorded talks he had with Heke, and refer American traders attempting to undermine the British both before and especially after the signing of the treaty. The first American Consul William Mayhew was probably pressured into leaving New Zealand, but was replaced by two unofficial Consuls, Green-Smith and Waetford. They continued in anti-British activities, selling muskets and powder to the disaffected Maori. Waetford was later convicted and imprisoned for gunrunning, but Green-Smith successfully escaped New Zealand before the Crown could arrest him.

Among items of dissatisfaction was the shifting of the capital of the new colony from Okiato to Auckland. This resulted in a loss of revenue for the people of the Bay of Islands. Furthermore, the imposition of government customs duties, the temporary banning of the felling of kauri trees, and the government control over the sale of land all contributed to an economic depression for the northern Māori. Furthermore it became clear that the British considered the authority of the chiefs to be subservient to that of the Crown.

The Flagstaff War

On 8 July 1844 the flagstaff on Maiki Hill at the north end of Kororareka was cut down for the first time, by Heke's ally Te Haratua, the chief of Pakaraka. Heke himself had set out to cut down the flagstaff, but had been persuaded by Archdeacon William Williams not to do so. As a signal of his unhappiness with the British, and encouraged by the American and French traders, in the space of six months Hone Heke returned to chop the flagpole down three times. Heke had been strongly influenced by stories of the American War of Independence.

The 4th time the flagpole was cut down occurred at dawn on Tuesday 11th March 1845, when a force of about 600 Māori armed with muskets, double-barrelled guns and also tomahawks attacked Kororareka. Hone Heke's warriors attacked the guard post, killing all the defenders and Heke cut down the flagstaff for the fourth time. At the same time, possibly as a diversion, Te Ruki Kawiti and his men attacked the town of Kororareka. This was the beginning of the Flagstaff War.

Many Maori under the mana of the leading northern rangitira, Tāmati Wāka Nene, stayed loyal to the British government. They took an active part in the fight against Heke and tried to maintain a dialogue with the rebels in an effort to bring peace.

Attack on Heke's Pā at Puketutu (Te Mawhe Pā)

In May 1845 Heke's Pā at Puketutu on the shores of Lake Omapere (sometimes called pumpkin tits), was attacked by troops from the 58th, 96th and 99th Regiments with marines and a Congreve rocket unit, under the command of Lt Col William Hulme.

The British troops had no heavy guns but they had brought with them a dozen Congreve rockets. The Māori had never seen rockets used and were anticipating a formidable display. Unfortunately the first two missed their target completely; the third hit the palisade, duly exploded and was seen to have done no damage. This display gave considerable encouragement to the Māori. Soon all the rockets had been expended leaving the palisade intact.

The storming parties began to advance, first crossing a narrow gulley between the lake and the pā. Here they came under heavy fire both from the palisade and from the surrounding scrub. It became apparent that there were as many enemy warriors outside the pā as there were inside. There followed a savage and confused battle. Eventually the discipline and cohesiveness of the British troops began to prevail and the Māori were driven back inside their fortress. But they were by no means beaten, far from it. Without artillery the British had no way to overcome the defences of the pā. Hulme decided to disengage and retreat back to the Bay of Islands. In this engagement the British suffered 14 killed and 38 wounded. The Māori losses were 47 killed and about 80 wounded.

Battle of Te Ahuahu

Main article: Te Ahuahu

After the successful defence of Puketutu Pā on the shores of Lake Omapere, in accordance with Māori custom, the Puketutu Pā was abandoned as blood had been spilt there. Hone Heke returned to the pā he had built at Te Ahuahu. Tāmati Wāka Nene built a pā at Okaihau in the days that followed that battle at Pā at Puketutu the warriors of Heke Tāmati Wāka Nene fought several minor skirmishes with the warriors of Heke and Kawiti.

The hostilities disrupted the food production and in order to obtain provisions for his warriors. Heke went on Kaikohe and to Pakaraka to gather food supplies in early June 1845. During his absence one of Tāmati Wāka Nene's allies, the Hokianga chief, Makoare Te Taonui, attacked and captured Te Ahuahu. This was a tremendous blow to Heke's mana or prestige, obviously it had to be recaptured as soon as possible.

Until the 1980s, histories of the Northern War tend to ignore the poorly documented Battle of Te Ahuahu yet it was the most significant fight of the entire war as it is the only engagement that can be described as a clear victory - not for the British forces - but for Tāmati Wāka Nene and his warriors. However, there are no detailed accounts of the action. It was fought entirely between the Māori warriors on 12 June 1845 near by Te Ahuahu at Pukenui - Hone Heke and his warriors against Tāmati Wāka Nene and his warriors.. As there was no British involvement in the action there is little mention of the event in contemporary British accounts. Carlton (1874) mentions "Heke committed the error (against the advice of Pene Taui) of attacking Walker [Tāmati Wāka Nene], who had advanced to Pukenui. With four hundred men, he attacked about one hundred and fifty of Walker's party, taking them also by surprise; but was beaten back with loss. Kahakaha was killed, Haratua was shot through the lungs".

Nene's warriors carried the day. Heke lost at least 30 warriors and was driven from Te Ahuahu leaving Tāmati Wāka Nene in control of Heke's pā. Haratua recovered from his wound. Heke was severely wounded and did not rejoin the conflict until some months later, at the closing phase of the Battle of Ruapekapeka.

Battle of Ruapekapeka Pa

Main article: Ruapekapeka

The siege of Ruapekapeka began on 27 December 1845 and continued until 11 January 1846. This pā had been constructed by Te Ruki Kawiti and was a designed that improved on the two palisade design of the Ohaeawai Pā; the Ruapekapeka Pā was build with three palisades as a defence against cannon and musket fire and as a barrier to attempts to assault the pā.

Over two weeks, the British bombarded the pā with cannon fire until the defences had been breached on 10 January. On Sunday, 11 January Tāmati Wāka Nene's men discovered that the pā appeared to have been abandoned; although Te Ruki Kawiti and a few of his followers remained behind, and appeared to have been caught unaware by the British assault. An assaulting force drove Kawiti and his warriors out of the pā. Fighting fighting took place behind the pā and most casualties occurred in this phase of the battle.

It was later suggested that most of the Māori had been at church, many of them were devout Christians. Knowing that their enemy, the British were also Christians they had not expected an attack on a Sunday. However, there is some doubt is to this explanation of the events of Sunday, 11 January as fighting did continue on Sunday at the Battle of Ohaeawai. Another explanation is that Heke deliberately abandoned the pā to lay a trap in the surrounding bush as this would provide cover and give Heke a considerable advantage. If this is the correct explanation, then the Heke's ambush was only partially successful, as Kawiti's men, fearing their chief had fallen, returned towards the pā and the British forces engaged in battle with the Māori rebels immediately behind the pā.

In any event after four hours of battle, the Māori rebels withdrew. The British forces, left in occupation of the pā, proclaimed a victory.

The end of the Flagstaff War

Shortly after Ruapekapeka, Heke and Kawiti met their principal Māori opponent, Tāmati Wāka Nene, and agreed upon peace. Nene went to Auckland to tell the governor that peace had been won. The governor, George Grey presented the event as a British victory. Despite this, Heke and George Grey were reconciled at a meeting in 1848. Grey had no respect for the political stance that Heke assumed "I cannot discover that the rebels have a single grievance to complain of which would in any degree extenuate their present conduct and. . . I believe that it arises from an irrational contempt of the powers of Great Britain."

The ingenious design of the Ohaeawai Pā and the Ruapekapeka Pā became know to other Māori tribes. These designs were the basis of what is now called the gunfighter pā that were built during the later New Zealand Wars.

The legacy of Hone Heke

Following the conflict Hone Heke retired to Kaikohe. There, two years later, he died of tuberculosis on 7 August 1850. The Rev R Davis performed a Christian ceremony and then one of his wives, Rongo and other followers who had been his bodyguard for many years, took his body to a cave near Pakaraka, called Umakitera. In April 2011 it was announced by David Rankin, of the Hone Heke foundation, that the bones of Hone Heke would be moved and buried at a public cemetery, as the land near the cave was being developed, and in May 2011 he supervised the move - although some in Ngapuhi questioned his right to do so.

Pākehā Māori Frederick Edward Maning wrote a near contemporaneous account of Hone Heke in A history of the war in the north of New Zealand against the chief Heke. Its accuracy is questioned on the basis that it was written with an aim to entertain, rather than with an eye to historical accuracy.

Sources

• Carleton, Hugh (1874). "Vol. II". The Life of Henry Williams. Early New Zealand Books (ENZB), University of Auckland Library. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Cowan, James (1922). "Volume I: 1845–1864". The New Zealand Wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period. Wellington: R.E. Owen. pp. 73–144. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)
• Moon, Paul (2001). Hone Heke: Nga Puhi Warrior. Auckland: David Ling Publishing. ISBN 0-908990-76-6.

External links

• Hone Wiremu Heke Pokai biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography