My work

Musket Wars

Prologue
By Michael King

We read the prologue of the musket wars by Michael King.

•  The spread of the muskets throughout the country, Whereas in the 1818 Ngapuhi  could campaign with impunity with small numbers then they caused havoc through out the north island Defeats were often encountered, and in human terms the cost of campaigning became too great. Te Raupara and his allies had the same experience in the South Island in their later campaigns.

• A factor of the wars to end was the arrival of large numbers of the European settlers at the end of the 1830s. The Europeans began to by the land, especially in places where there had been temporarily abandoned by the iwi during the musket wars then they started to settle in large numbers. 

•  A major New Zealand company made a purchase of the northern portions of Te Waipounamu from Te Rauparaha. A Ngai Tahu was on its way north to attack Te Rauparaha when they heard of there purchase of land they clamed as there own. The taua was on its way to returning home to Southland. The Europeans stole Ngai Tahu land down south.

• Important factor in the hostilities was the conversion of the many Maori to Christianity on the rangatira involved in the early years of the Musket wars was very small.

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

Monday, 4 May 2015

Badass of the Week: Hongi Hika

I read Badass of The Weeks version of Hongi Hika's life by Ben Thompson. He made a funny take on his life and he did a very good job of it.

When James Cook arrived, Hongi was holding up heads that had been cut up really bad. One thing that stood out to James cook The Maori people are very "hardcore". One of Cooks first encounters with the Maori happened with a when a "pimped-out war canoe" rolled up alongside Cook's ship and a couple of "skull-crushing" tribesmen with gnarly full-face tattoos stood up in their ship and held up a set of "perfectly-preserved severed heads" they had "recently detached from the torsos of a band of almost-equally-hardcore warriors.

In 1808 Hongi's tribal chief, while trading items with the Europeans, discovered a new, powerful weapon that he was certain was going to be the most awesome thing to happen to warfare since the invention of decapitation, the flintlock musket. So he he kept in contact with the europeans so he could trade in order get the bullets and the gun powder. He took the heads from his dead enemies and smoked them and then used them to trade. Hongi went to London where the king gave him a lot of gifts. On the way home he stopped over in Australia and exchanged them all for guns and bullets.

Author: Ben Thompson

Source:

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/hongihika.html

 

Monday, 27 April 2015

Tū

We read a Wikipedia post Tūmatauenga, the god of war and balance, I learnt the Tūmatauenga thinks about the actions while they we fighting. He tells his two younger brothers Rongo and Haumia-tikeiike to kill there parents to allow light into the world. If they perform the rituals, kill and eat birds, fish, cultivate and harvest food plants, and generally harness the resources of the natural world.











 









 

What Were They like?

The warriors didn't wear much clothing and didn't have a clue on what the Europeans looked like would of had no clue that they were going to even turn up. They were always battling with each. The warriors had to fend for them selves and everything they could to do so.

I Think the films Dead Lands and God of War are realistic and I think that because it looks like what was going on when back when it was happening back then.

They acted much like Tūmatauenga and were most likely looking up to him and new a lot about him and were always trying to be like him. They most likely always followed in his foot steps.

I think life back then would have been very hard. They would have been made to work, I think it would have been very tough in what the law did or there would of have were tight guide lines that that certain people had to stick to.