Media Release
25 January 2011

First national conference on the New Zealand Wars to be held next month

More than 150 years after the first shot was fired, Mäori and Päkehä scholars will join overseas experts for the inaugural national conference on the New Zealand Wars.

Tutü te Puehu: New Zealand’s Wars of the 19th Century will be held at Massey University’s Wellington campus from 11 to 13 February 2011.
More Mäori and päkehä died in New Zealand’s wars of the 19th century than in any of the 20th century overseas conflicts this country was involved in. Despite this, these wars are not as well known – something this conference will help redress.

Historian Professor James Belich, whose ground breaking research led to the 1998 television series on the wars will be speaking at the conference, together with other New Zealand experts, including Dr Monty Soutar, Dr Danny Keenan and Dr Peter Adds.

Conflict between indigenous and settler peoples was not unique to New Zealand, and leading scholars from the United States, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom will put our wars in an international context.

One of the conference organisers, John Crawford says the fierce conflicts that raged across much of the North Island pitted päkehä against Mäori and Mäori against Mäori during the 19th century, impacting on virtually every aspect of life in New Zealand. ‘The legacy of these conflicts continues to shape relations between päkehä and Mäori.’

Registrations for the conference are still open, and a limited number of spaces are available.

ENDS