New Zealand Musket Wars (1818-1840)

A series of Māori tribal battles involving muskets (long-barrelled muzzle-loaded guns, brought to New Zealand by Europeans) which mainly took place between 1818 and 1840.

The population of New Zealand in 1769 was around 100,000. It is estimated that around 20,000 died in the Musket Wars which also changed traditional tribal areas. Source: The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga: Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Tauranga Moana by Debbie McCauley.

This project is for profiles of people involved in or affected by the New Zealand Musket Wars (1818-1840) including Māori, but also traders, whalers and missionaries.

Māori

• Hongi Hika
• Hikareia
• Te Morenga
• Hōri Kingi Tūpaea
• Hokohoko Te Tūtahi
• Te Waru

Missionaries

• Archid. Alfred Nesbit Brown Brown's journals are full of references to intertribal battles that took place in the Bay of Plenty and especially Tauranga.