Ten years ago today my most important book was officially launched. The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000, published by Bridget Williams Books, was launched at the Waahi Pā poukai in Rāhui Pōkeka (Huntly) on 8 October 2016. It was the first single-volume history of the 1863-64 Waikato War to be published since 1879.

Poukai are a series of annual visits by the Māori king or queen to marae throughout Waikato and elsewhere that date back to the 1880s. A poukai is held at Waahi Pā each year on 8 October marking the koroneihana (coronation) of King Koroki on 8 October 1933. 

And so it was an honour and a privilege to be invited to launch this book in this manner and to present the first official copy to Kīngi Tūheitia. And given the topic matter, it was only right and proper that the book should be shared with Tainui and the people of the Kīngitanga before it was taken to the wider world.

The day was a humbling and very moving one. Immediately following the official launch, large numbers of people attending the poukai queued to secure their own copies of the book and to have them signed, with many asking these to be dedicated to their mokopuna, so that they never forgot this history. Many observed that the book would be a treasured taonga or heirloom for their whānau. 

Following the poukai, at an event held at Waikato Museum the following day, I also had the pleasure of presenting copies of the book to Waimarama Anderson, Leah Bell and other students and former students from Ōtorohanga College responsible for organising the successful petition to Parliament that led to a national day of commemoration for all of the victims of the New Zealand Wars. It was great to be able to acknowledge their wonderful efforts in this way.

Then, about ten days later, more than 200 hundred people turned up at Te Papa for a Wellington event featuring Jim Bolger, Rahui Papa, Te Ururoa Flavell, Atholl Anderson  and myself – and a resounding consensus around the need to do more to remember the New Zealand Wars.

That was followed in November 2016 by an event at Auckland Museum which was recorded as a special episode of The Hui with Mihingarangi Forbes. And so we had a wonderful night at the museum recording that, including the kapa haka group from  Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Western Springs College), who performed Homai Te Ra, Give us the Day, a specially composed haka waiata in support of the national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars. 

The book’s title came from a statement made by the great Ngāti Hauā leader Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa. In an 1865 petition Wiremu Tamihana wrote that ‘When it came to the time of the murder at Rangiaowhia, then I knew for the first time that this was a great war for New Zealand’ (‘he tino pakanga nui no Niu Tireni’). 

Tamihana’s words encapsulated the central argument of my book, which is that the defining conflict in New Zealand history did not take place on the Western Front, or at Gallipoli, or in North Africa. Instead, it happened right here. 

That message seems to have resonated with the many audiences I have spoken with on this history since 2016. If you are in Waikato, I will doing so again at an event hosted by Te Awamutu Museum on 22 October. See the post below for further details. 

To mark ten years since The Great War for New Zealand was launched, I will be giving away a signed copy of it, drawn from premium (paid) subscribers to this newsletter (NZ addresses only). To enter, simply upgrade to a premium subscription. Current premium subscribers are already in the draw. The winner will be randomly drawn on Rā Maumahara, the national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars on 28 October.