The Maori King Movement

The Maori King Movement or Kingitanga was a movement that emerged among the Maori tribes in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. The origins of the Kingitanga stemmed from similar, smaller scale pan-tribal movements that cropped up amongst the Maori tribes in the central North Island in the early 1850’s, but it wasn’t till 1858 that the Kingites actually crowned a king of this monarch in Potatau Te Wherowhero, a well known war chief at the time. Maori initiated the Maori King Movement or Kingitanga on the basis of wanting to establish a monarch to gain some influence and match the colonising people, the British.

Prelude:
After the Treaty Of Waitangi was signed in 1840, the number of settlers migrating to New Zealand from England increased exponentially, as Keith Sinclair sights, “The 1858 census revealed that the Europeans at last outnumbered the Maoris.” Because so many European settlers were immigrating to New Zealand, the demand for Maori land was high. This was a problem because Maori lacked the unity and political power to do much about the alienation of their land. Traditionally Maori were tribal, independent of one another and led by their respective chiefs. This made it easier for the British to buy land as they had to appease fewer people for the purchase. You could argue that all this conflict stemmed from the misconception of what each party though they were entitled to. In 1840 the treaty of Waitangi was signed but because the British wanted to get it signed quickly there were mistranslations in the terms. This lead both Maori and the British to believe that they had sovereignty over New Zealand. Both parties acted on the belief that they were the side with the power and this is where the conflict occurred. ...

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...peans’. This movement was a display of independence and courage. Keith Sinclair says that the Kingitanga was “A brave attempt to adapt to a changing world.” United a formally divided people. (sustained their influence). Even though he Kingites did not achieve the goal they they set out for with the formation of the Kingitanga, the consequence was still significant to New Zealand. The British crushed the Kingitanga and confiscated their lands in 1863 and as a result, the Kingitanga was effectively defeated. British obtained sovereignty over New Zealand and this shaped the political landscape we have today. But as a consolation, Maori culture is still strong and they have political status in some applications. The Crown has even returned some of the land back and/or compensated some of the prominent tribes in the Kingitanga such as Te Wherowhero’s tribe, Tainui.