Ka Pu Te Ruha, Ka Hao Te Rangatahi: Changes in Maori Warfare between the Period Prior to First European Contact and the End of the New Zealand Wars

Geoffrey Parker asserts in The Cambridge History of Warfare that the western way of war is based on five fundamental principles. He states that the combination of a heavy reliance on technology, reinforced by discipline and aggressive pursuit of total victory, supported by economic power and the ability to implement change has permitted military dominance over indigenous peoples ill-prepared to withstand the destructive forces arrayed against them. The paradigm that an uncivilized native culture is not able to understand and effectively engage a superior western force is a bias that in many ways remains today. During the period 1845 to 1868, the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, fought a series of conflicts against British Regular and Colonial forces. This paper will investigate the changes in Maori warfare from the period of first European contact to the end of the New Zealand Wars.