March 10, 2020
Old chant recalls Flagstaff War
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In the Bay of Island, this morning iwi and crown representatives are remembering the 175th anniversary of the first major battle after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
On March 11, 1845, after months of mounting tension, a large force assembled by Hone Heke and his ally Te Ruki Kawiti attacked Kororāreka, cutting down the flagpole for the fourth time and sacking the township.
What is sometimes called the Flagstaff War continued until the Battle of Ruapekapeka the following January, and ended in a stalemate with the crown wary of taking on Ngāpuhi head-on.
MP Shane Jones says when he was growing up the war was still discussed by elders like Sir James Henare and Māori Marsden, who passed on an old chant describing Te Maiki or Flagstaff Hill as the ramparts of the treaty being under attack.
"And first Te Haratua, his axe cut down the flagpole and the name of his axe was From a small spark comes great flames, followed by Hone Heke, he cut down the flagpole, and his axe had a head that cut both ways, and there Queen Victoria you lie, covered in dust. But who do we see coming from the mist? It is a taniwha. His name is Kawiti. Now the flames are spreading everywhere through the north," Mr Jones says.
Shane Jones
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