The New Zealand Wars - Episode 2, Kings and Empires

Television (Full Length) – 1998

This episode from James Belich’s award-winning history on the New Zealand Wars follows formidable Māori leaders such as Te Rauparaha, Te Rangihaeata and Te Mamaku as they resist land-hungry settlers. Conflict erupts in the Wairau Valley after Pākehā begin surveying land for occupation, against the wishes of Māori. Amid rising tensions, Kiingitanga emerges as what Belich calls "one of the most important developments in the whole of Māori political history". And in South Taranaki, the British take advantage of Māori disagreements about land sales, culminating in a devastating battle. Read more about the series here.

Both races already form one harmonious community — professing the same faith, resorting to the same courts of justice, connected together by the same commercial and agricultural pursuits, and enjoying the same public sports.
– An overly optimistic Governor Grey