Maori Wairau Incident

June 27, 1843

In the South Island of New Zealand, an attempt by British settlers to arrest Chief Te Rauparaha over a disputed land claim ended in a firefight that killed twenty-two Europeans. It was the first serious warning that the Treaty of Waitangi's cozy fictions would not survive actual colonization. Governor FitzRoy's refusal to punish the Maori chiefs enraged the settlers but preserved a fragile peace for several more years.