Time to look back at the Wairau Affray with 'compassionate mindset'

Sunday, 3 June 2018

The first serious clash of arms between Māori and British, the Wairau Affray, took place in New Zealand almost 175 years ago to the day.

The battle left 22 Europeans and 4 local iwi dead. It was also the only clash between Māori and Europeans in the South Island.

It started with a corporate entity, the New Zealand Company, whose main source of capital lay in the relocation and colonisation of European settlers.

The company also seemed to have a fair bit of suction with local government bodies and brokered many a deal with local Māori for land.

In sum, the fellows at the company had a serious quandary on their hands – they had sold much more land than they owned.

And now they were going to have to come up with the goods before they could provide homes for the enormous influx of new European settlers, mainly from the United Kingdom, making their way to the top of the south.

Nelson was full up, so they set their sights on the Wairau. Turns out, the New Zealand Company held a false deed to land in the Wairau Valley. And when representatives from the company came to survey the land they were met with resistance, and escorted from the region by local iwi Ngāti Toa.

Following appeals by Ngāti Toa to the Land Commissioner and Nelson, and a refusal to back down by the company's man Captain Arthur Wakefield, about 50 inexperienced armed men marched over the hill from Nelson to confront the locals with the police magistrate holding warrants for the arrest of Ngāti Toa chiefs Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata.

The rest, as they say, is history.

To put the incident into context the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed three years prior, meaning local iwi should have had the same sovereign rights of any New Zealander at the time.

However, some weeks before the Wairau Affray, there was an incident where a settler raped a Māori woman and murdered her child at Port Underwood. The tribe was persuaded by the local missionary to seek justice through the Pākehā courts.

Unfortunately, the settler walked free, and not surprisingly these events overshadowed the land dispute.

But the move of the New Zealand Company really stirred the hornet's nest. The fight was a big deal and shook New Zealand to the core.

In observance of the events that took place in 1843, the Marlborough Museum is holding a panel discussion, 'Stories of The Wairau Affray' on Sunday, June 10. 

Museum director Steve Austin said it would be an opportunity to reflect on the events, how things were seen by the people of the day, and how the incident was interpreted today.

'We know a lot about the facts of that day … That's clear,' Austin said. 'But those facts have been interpreted in a number of ways. There have been many stories told about the incident. And now, since it will be the 175th anniversary there will be an opportunity to reflect on those events – what people said at the time, the attitudes and perceptions over time, and how we see it today.'

The talk would take place at the museum's theatre, from 2-3pm, a week before the anniversary, with the possibility of visiting the site the following week.

'We hope that at the end of the discussion we can arrange a visit to the site the following week,' Austin said. 'I do hope people take the time to reconsider the facts of the Wairau Affray, and it will give new meaning to what we have been taught in school, or even anecdotal discussions.

'History isn't always tidy and convenient. And that's the great thing about humankind, is that there are always new ways to interpret the facts of the past, and to look at these kinds of historical events with a compassionate mindset.'