Dancing with the King.

Abstract

The Waikato conflict 1863-64 ended with Rewi Maniapoto’s famous stand at Ōrākau and his celebrated reply to the British call for his surrender, ‘E hoa mā, ka whawhai tonu mātou, ake! ake! ake!’ [Friends, we shall fight you forever and ever]. Rather than give in, Rewi and his supporters made their escape across the Puniu River back into the heart of Ngāti Maniapoto territory.  The British halted at Ōtawhao and Kihikihi and carried out a wholesale raupatu (confiscation) of the lands of Waikato through to the Puniu river. Rewi and others had come to the aid of the Māori king, Tawhiao.