ExploreTūhuratia Rangiaowhia - O‑Rākau

Visit places where pivotal events happened during the New Zealand Land Wars.

Haere ki ngā wāhi i puta mai ai ētehi pāpono nui whakaharahara i te wā o ngā Pakanga Whenua o Aotearoa.

Overview

Tirohanga whānui

7 stopsE 7 ngā tūnga2 hours2 haora

This tour begins on Rangiaowhia Rd, a 10 minute drive from Te Awamutu. A village named Rangiaowhia once thrived here. From the 1830s Māori and invited European settlers worked collaboratively to develop this into one of New Zealand’s most important agricultural areas. These relationships changed forever during the New Zealand Land Wars. In February 1864 British Crown forces invaded Rangiaowhia. Next, the soldiers fought defenders of the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement) at Hairini and O‑Rākau. Journey with us to significant battle sites and to the historic town of Kihikihi. Learn what took place here and about life before the war.

Ka tīmata tēnei haerenga i te rori o Rangiaowhia, 10 meneti te roa o te taraiwa i Te Awamutu. I ngā wā o mua i tū tētehi kāinga tōnui i konei, ko Rangiaowhia te ingoa. Nō ngā tau o te tekau tau 1830 i mahi tahi te Māori me ngā Pākehā i pōwhiritia ki konei ki te whakarite i tēnei wāhi hei wāhi ahuwhenua matua i Aotearoa. I rerekē ēnei hononga i muri mai i ngā Pakanga Whenua o Aotearoa. I te marama o Rūhīterangi, i te tau 1864, i urutomo ngā hōia Pākehā a te Karauna ki roto o Rangiaowhia. I muri mai, ka whawhai ngā hōia ki ngā kaiwawao i te Kīngitanga i Hairini me O-Rākau. Hoake tātou ki ngā wāhi pakanga nui me te tāone o Kihikihi ki te ako i ngā mahi i puta i konei me te āhua o te ao i konei i mua i te pakanga.

Get driving directionsTīkina ngā tohutohu mō te taraiwa Take the mobile tourMahia atu te tāpoi ā-waea

Overview StopTe Wāhi Tirohanga Whānui

Orientate yourself to this area and learn why it is significant.

Whakamōhio i a koe ki te takiwā nei, me te ako, he aha i hirahira ai.

St Paul’s Anglican ChurchTe Whare Karakia Mihingare o Hato Pāora

Visit St Paul’s Anglican Church, one of the two oldest churches in the Waikato. It was built in the 1850s, when Rangiaowhia was a thriving agricultural village.

Haere ki te Whare Karakia Mihingare o Hato Pāora, tētehi o ngā whare karakia tino kaumātua e rua i te rohe o Waikato. He mea hanga i ngā tau 1850, i te tōnuitanga o te kāinga ahuwhenua o Rangiaowhia.

Attack on RangiaowhiaTe Whakaeke i Rangiaowhia

Hear what happened when British Crown forces invaded this peaceful Māori village on 21 February 1864, and learn why Rangiaowhia was a target.

Whakarongo ki ngā kōrero mō ngā mahi i puta i te whakaeketanga o tēnei kāinga rangimārie nō te Māori e ngā hōia Pākehā i te 21 o Rūhīterangi, i te tau 1864 me te ako anō i te take i whāia ai a Rangiaowhia.

Catholic Church CemeteryTe Urupā o te Whare Karakia Katorika

View the site where the Catholic Mission of the Holy Angels once stood. Hear about the exchange of goods and ideas between Māori and Pākehā (Europeans) before the war.

Tirohia te wāhi i tū ai te mīhana o Ngā Anahera Tapu Katorika i mua. Whakarongo ki ngā kōrero mō te whakawhitinga o ngā taonga me ngā whakaaro i waenga i te Māori me te Pākehā i mua i te pakanga.

Monument for Burned WhareNgā Whare i Wera

On this site a whare karakia (house of prayer) burned during the attack by the British Crown forces. Hear about the tūpuna (Māori ancestors) who experienced atrocities here.

I konei, i wera i te ahi tētehi whare karakia i te wā o te whakaeke a ngā hōia Pākehā. Whakarongo ki ngā kōrero mō ngā tūpuna i tūkinotia i konei.

Battle of HairiniTe Pakanga i Hairini

Overlook the ridgeline where Māori lined up on 22 February 1864, to avenge the attack on Rangiaowhia.

Tirohia te pae whenua i rārangi mai ai ngā Māori i te 22 o Rūhīterangi, i te tau 1864 ki te whakaea i te parekura i Rangiaowhia.

O‑Rākau Battle SiteTe Pae o Te Riri o O‑Rākau

View the site where a vicious battle was waged from 31 March to 2 April 1864, when British Crown forces attacked Māori. This was the final battle of the Crown’s invasion of the Waikato.

Tirohia te wāhi i mura ai te ahi o te pakanga i waenga i ngā hōia Pākehā me ngā Māori mai i te 31 o Poutūterangi ki te 2 o Paengawhāwhā, i te tau 1864. Koinei te pakanga whakamutunga o te whakaeke a te Karauna ki roto i te rohe o Waikato.

KihikihiKihikihi

Visit Temple Cottage (once a soldier’s home) and the historic police station (1907). Learn about early Māori settlement in Kihikihi and the European township established after the war.

Haere ki a Temple Cottage (he kāinga nō tētehi hōia i mua) me te teihana pirihimana tawhito (1907). Whakarongo ki ngā kōrero mō te kāinga Māori i Kihikihi i mua me te whakatūnga o te tāone Pākehā i muri mai i te pakanga.

How did the Soldiers Feel about the War?

E Pā tō Hau

As the British Crown’s invasion of the Waikato progressed, many of the soldiers became increasingly disgusted with the war.

Up to two thirds of the imperial troops were Irish. They felt uneasy doing to Māori what the British had done to their own people. Yet their options were limited: many were illiterate and the army provided food and pay sorely needed, especially after surviving the Irish Famine.

Many soldiers – and Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron himself – came to the uncomfortable realisation that the war was a land grab. Land confiscation was always part of the plan. Waikato Militia recruited from Auckland, and goldfields in Otago and Australia, were promised land through the military settlement scheme. But many ended up walking off the lands they were given: undeveloped plots in what was still an active war zone.

I muri mai i te parekura, i rere ngā mōrehu, kāore ā rātou rawa. I titoa te waiata tangi o ‘E pā tō hau’ i muri mai i te rerenga i Rangiaowhia. He waiata e whakaputa ana i te hinapōuri o te iwi o tēnei rohe i tērā wā, ināianei anō hoki.

He tokomaha ngā tāngata i rere ki te tonga, ki ngā whenua o Tūwharetoa i te takiwā o Taupō, tae atu hoki ki ngā tautū me ngā tāngata e mate ana.

I titoa a ‘E pā tō hau’ e Te Rangiamoa hei tangi mō tōna huānga, mō Te Wano. Ka tono a Te Wano i tana iwi, māna ia e amo ki te tihi o Titiraupenga, he maunga e tūtata ana ki Taupō, kia hoki ai tana titiro ki tōna kāinga i riro i mua i tōna matenga. Ka whakamāramahia mai te kino o te taonga o ngā hōia i Rangiaowhia.

Take the mobile tourMahia atu te tāpoi ā-waea

Presented ByNā
Vincent O’MalleyTom Roa

Graphic Novel

He pūrākau whai whakaahua

The New Zealand Land Wars in the Waikato

Ngā Pakanga Whenua o Aotearoa i te rohe o Waikato

In 1863 British Crown forces invaded Māori lands in the Waikato, unleashing a vicious war that would change this country and region forever.

I te tau 1863 ka ara ake te pakanga kino i te whakaeke a ngā hōia Pākehā a te Karauna i ngā whenua Māori o Waikato, me te aha, ka rerekē te āhua o tēnei motu me tēnei rohe, ā, haere nei te wā.

Travel Information

He mōhiohio ā-kaihora

For best experience of the mobile tour, pack some earphones so you can easily hear the video stories while out and about.

Kia riro pai i ngā hua o te haerenga nei mā runga waea, kawea mai ētehi purutaringa kia rangona pai ai ngā kiriata whakamārama.

Getting There

Te haere atu

This tour starts on Rangiaowhia Rd, a 10 minute drive from Te Awamutu. If you’re travelling from Hamilton, allow a 40 minute drive.

Ka tīmata tēnei haerenga i te rori o Rangiaowhia, 10 meneti te roa o te taraiwa i Te Awamutu. Mehemea koe e haere ana i Kirikiriroa, whakawāteahia te 40 meneti mō te haerenga.

Moving Between Stops

Te haere i waenga i ngā tūnga

Stops 1-5 of this zone are a walking tour through farmlands where the village of Rangiaowhia once stood. It is a flat, easy walk with each stop located just a few minutes from the last.

From Rangiaowhia, Stop 6 (O‑Rākau Battle Site) is a 7 minute drive away, on farmland. Stop 7, the township of Kihikihi, is a few minutes drive from Stop 6.

He haerenga whīkoi ngā tūnga 1 ki te 5 o tēnei wāhanga i runga i ngā whenua pāmu i tū ai te kāinga o Rangiaowhia i mua. He papatahi, he māmā hoki te whīkoi, ā, kāore e tawhiti tēnā tūnga i tēnā tūnga.

E 7 meneti te roa o te taraiwa ki te Tūnga 6 i Rangiaowhia i runga i ngā whenua pāmu. E torutoru meneti noa iho te roa o te taraiwa i te Tūnga 6 ki te Tūnga 7, arā ki te tāone o Kihikihi.

Amenities

Ngā ratonga

Kihikihi has a small supermarket and eateries, where you can buy food and refreshments. There are public toilets on the main street (near the intersection with Galloway St), and a playground not far down the road, at Rewi Maniapoto Reserve.

He hokomaha iti, he wharekai anō hoki kei Kihikihi hei hoko kai, timotimo anō hoki māu. He whareiti tūmatanui kei te tiriti matua (e tata ana ki te pūtahitanga i te tiriti o Galloway), ā, kāore e matara i reira tētehi papa tākaro kei te Papa o Rewi Maniapoto.