WEBVTT - How to Start a Monarchy from Scratch (Part 2) 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.640 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:13.040 and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised. There was 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:18.800 no easy solution. As Tefuero Fera received reports about attacks 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.439 on his Maori allies in the coastal town of Watara, 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:28.560 he knew his options were extremely limited. For nearly two 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:33.839 years he had walked a meticulously diplomatic line with his 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:40.360 immensely powerful adversaries, but by March of eighteen sixty tensions 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:45.519 had boiled over due to a complex series of deals, betrayals, 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:51.200 and armed conflicts. And although Tefuera Fero likely got little 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:56.200 amusement from it, he surely recognized the parallels to the 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:02.880 ill fated military campaign he had led forty years prior. Because, 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:07.160 just like that pivotal point of the Musket Wars, this 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.000 risky battle was once again based in the Taranaki region 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:17.480 of New Zealand's North Island. However, while the location was 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:23.160 basically the same, many other elements had changed. At this point. 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:28.240 Tefuerafara was not merely the rangetira or chief of multiple 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:32.520 hapu or subtribes, as well as the overall leader of 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.760 the waikatu Ewi or tribe. He was also the first 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:43.039 Maori king to have ever been crowned. Furthermore, unlike in 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:48.160 his warrior heyday, his opponents were no longer rival tribes 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:54.800 and chieftains, but European settler militias, the colonial government Queen 0:01:54.920 --> 0:02:00.240 Victoria had installed in Auckland, and the British monarchy itself. 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.720 The stakes were incredibly high and the sides were exceedingly 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:11.720 uneven on the colonial side. In addition to locally based militia's, 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:18.320 thirty five hundred Imperial soldiers were reportedly directed from Australia 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:24.760 to Taranaki. Most sources peg Maori defensive forces as varying 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:30.720 between several hundred to fifteen hundred at most. The troops 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:36.079 sent by the Victorian government not only vastly outnumbered their 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:42.320 Maori opponents, they also had far superior firepower. This included 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.840 an abundance of individual muskets and rifles, plus, if Maori 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:54.120 scouts's reports were accurate, the supports of the Royal Australian Navy. 0:02:55.080 --> 0:03:00.560 What was Tifuerofuero to do. Directly opposing the British crown 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:05.320 and its proxies could escalate the conflict into a full 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:11.520 blown war. In addition to obviously causing bloodshed, such large 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:16.240 scale violence could alienate his allies, give further ammunition to 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:22.200 his rivals, and destroy collective Maori power. But if Tefuera 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:27.160 Fuero did nothing, there would still likely be ample bloodshed, 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.240 and he might alienate numerous Maori factions while undermining his 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:37.760 authority by coming off as an ineffectual leader to make 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:42.440 Tifuera Waro's predicament even harder. He was by this point 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:47.200 quite ill and apparently unable to leave his pa or 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:53.360 fortified village once again. With his life, his tribe's fortunes, 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:58.200 and New Zealand's hierarchy all hanging in the balance, Tifuera 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:02.400 Wharo had to choose a path forward. Who would have 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:06.240 thought that the days decades earlier of him single handedly 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.160 fighting off dozens of enemies would have been so much easier. 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:20.400 I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood. The process 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.880 of creating a Maori monarchy is fascinating due to how 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:30.240 it bridged cultures, spawned conflict, and elevated a king who 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:35.120 initially didn't even want to be king. So in many ways, 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:39.920 Part two of our story is actually about the Maori 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:44.800 king movement, a story that highlights the ultimate first king, 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:51.960 Tefuero Fuero, but also the work of several influential kingmakers. Fascinatingly, 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:56.640 the first of these king makers, tami Hanna te Roparaha, 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:02.360 was the son of Tefuera Fuero's form rival te Roparaha, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:07.440 the other main formidable chief we had met in Part one. 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:12.800 His son, Tamahana, was by most accounts, a clever, worldly 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.480 leader who learned a great deal about Maori and New 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:22.719 Zealand history from his renowned warrior father to quickly recap 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.680 some significant events that are relevant to his later efforts. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:32.400 Polynesians first voyaged to New Zealand via canoe around twelve 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:37.520 fifty and began settling in greater numbers by about thirteen fifty. 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:44.719 These hardy explorers formed communities that eventually developed distinct Maori 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:51.440 traditions and social structures. Centuries later, European sailors visited. The 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.839 grouping of over six hundred islands, and the related etymology 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.800 of New Zealand provides some insight into the seeds of 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:08.120 chaos that eventually sprouted into political upheaval and a transcontinental 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:15.000 battle over Maori rights and autonomy In sixteen forty two, 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:21.000 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman spotted the main North and South Islands, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:26.200 and despite him supposedly never venturing ashore during that journey, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.359 cartographers back in the Netherlands, who learned of his quote 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:36.719 unquote discovery went ahead and named the whole island grouping 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:42.960 Nova Zeelandia, after a Dutch province. It's not as if 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:48.080 Maori individuals didn't already have names for their chosen homelands. 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:54.040 The Maori Appalachian our Tiuroa, which now often is used 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.960 interchangeably with New Zealand in reference to the country, has 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:03.359 origins dating back to those first Polynesian canoes. However, our 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:08.520 Tiaroa was purportedly only used by Maori individuals to refer 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.480 to the North Island, while the South Island had other names. 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:17.640 All to say, while Maori tribes shared countless cultural attributes, 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.520 there's little evidence that they had a firm concept of 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:25.640 being part of one collective nation, or at least not 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:31.400 in the same sense as many Western countries at that time. Evidently, 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.880 the name New Zealand was used fairly commonly by European 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:41.560 colonists and even some Maori groups during Tamihana's lifetime. This 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:47.000 effectively underlined the complicated and often awkward dynamics of the 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:53.760 island's nineteenth century power structures. This was especially apparent in 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:59.200 the somewhat haphazard Declaration of Independence of New Zealand in 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:06.040 eighteen five. Thirty four Northern chiefs signed the document as 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:10.720 quote the United Tribes of New Zealand, along with the 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:16.200 Crown's chosen British resident at the time, but as quite 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:21.040 a few scholars argue, the declaration was less a momentous 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:26.400 act of revolution and more a self aggrandizing move by 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.920 the British resident and a relatively knee jerk response to 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:37.760 a commercial shipping issue relating to proper flag usage. Historians 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.880 and writers seemed to almost universally agree that the Declaration 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:48.800 of Independence was actually far less consequential than the Treaty 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:55.160 of Vitangi that came five years later. This eighteen forty 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:59.760 agreement was the result of many Northern chiefs wanting for 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:04.880 detection from possible French annexation, and agents of the British 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:10.319 Crown happily assisted by drafting a deal that greatly increased 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:17.320 British authority over New Zealand, specifically that treaty contained three 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:23.720 paradigm shifting articles. It essentially gave governmental oversight of New 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.520 Zealand to the Queen of England. Victoria, gave the British 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:33.839 Crown the exclusive right to purchase Maori land, and in 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:40.120 return gave Maori people the protection and rights of British citizens. 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:47.040 As Tamihana ostensibly surmised, and as the last one hundred 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:51.560 and eighty six years of subsequent history have confirmed, those 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:56.040 provisions are a whole lot to unpack. The Treaty of 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:00.440 Fitangi has long been the subject of immense legal tal debate, 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.760 partly due to the two different versions that the British 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:10.160 consul circulated, one written in English and the other written 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.600 in Maori, which, as you can probably guess, led to 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:20.240 crucial discrepancies in meaning, although some accounts attribute this to 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.640 intentional deception on the part of the British. More in depth, 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:30.280 modern scholarship argue that the British missionary charged with translating 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:34.760 the treaty actually did do a pretty thoughtful job, but 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:39.800 due to vast societal differences, such as one side having 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:44.040 a long history of written contracts and the other operating 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:48.720 almost entirely on oral and verbal agreements, there were simply 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:55.160 no direct or ideal translations available in certain cases. For example, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.480 as many historians have noted, the English version of the 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:04.680 treaty arguably handed complete sovereignty over to the British Crown, 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:09.839 while the Maori version seemed to create what many North 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:14.520 Island chiefs may have interpreted as a system in which 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.679 they would share power with an incoming governor appointed by 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:23.800 Queen Victoria. As you might imagine, the Treaty of Waitangi 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:30.920 incited rampant debate among Maori tribal leaders. Many didn't sign it, 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:37.559 including Tefuero Fuero. Tay Roparaja did supposedly thinking it guaranteed 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.520 him his own domain, but he soon learned a harsh 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:46.400 lesson after the colonial government tried to imprison him over 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:51.079 a land disagreement in eighteen forty three, leading to what's 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:56.480 known as the Wiro of Frey. This violent skirmish reportedly 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:02.200 had a big impact onte Roparaja's son. He recognized that 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:08.720 the more abstract sovereignty disagreements would certainly continue to create issues, 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:13.040 but the question of land rights was seemingly the most 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:19.440 pressing problem. As numerous scholars point out, the Maori did 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.440 not historically share the same notions as the British in 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:28.960 terms of owning land in perpetuity, so the Crown attempting 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:34.000 to buy huge swaths and control all land purchasing rights 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:40.240 in New Zealand was a rude awakening. Unsurprisingly, British officials 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:46.200 aggressively pursued the issue, while Queen Victoria eventually dispatched an 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:51.840 edict in eighteen forty six that all land not actively 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:58.000 occupied by Maori tribes automatically belonged to the Crown. Like 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:03.320 his elders, Tamahana realized that by being separated from their lands, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.920 his people were losing their freedoms, livelihoods, and ways of life. 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:13.000 In Tamihana's mind, the tribes needed a better strategy and 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:17.760 better leverage, which required a better understanding of what they 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:22.280 were up against. So, in an impressively proactive move in 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.200 eighteen fifty, he sailed to meet Queen Victoria in person 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.840 to see her monarchy in action. He seemingly kept things 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.240 cordial while there, but his gears must have been turning 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.560 because by the end of his trip he'd reached a 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:44.160 clear conclusion. To deal with a monarch, the Maori needed 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:51.720 a monarch of their own. Tamihna returned to New Zealand 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.960 eager to get a monarchy started. According to multiple accounts, 0:13:56.000 --> 0:14:00.480 he had plenty of willing listeners, since most Maori tribes 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:04.920 were gravely concerned about holding onto their lands and traditions, 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:11.000 especially considering Britain's colonial tactics. While the Crown obviously had 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:16.200 ample military might at their disposal, economic pressure was plenty 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:21.720 effective as an initial motivator. Many chiefs reportedly felt compelled 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.400 to sell land to the British for a range of 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:30.320 interconnected reasons, including supporting those in their subtribes who had 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:35.880 become impoverished because of foreign born infectious diseases, and changing 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:43.000 laws that favored outsiders of predominantly European descent. However, despite 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:47.720 all of these collective grievances, it was tough for Tamihana 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:52.320 to convince many tribe chiefs of the value of elevating 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.040 a single Maori king. For one thing, there were still 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.760 so many tribal rivalries, even just on the North Island, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:07.160 where Tamihana focused his efforts. Geography was another issue. Tribes 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.760 were spread across the North Island, and the amount of 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:15.240 rugged terrain between them meant that traveling by horseback to 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:22.760 communicate and coordinate took considerable time and effort. Tamihana was determined, 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:27.760 as were other like minded early backers of the monarchy plan, 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:33.880 who collectively became known as the Kingitannga or Maori King movement. 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:39.560 The group gained momentum by resurrecting the tradition of holding 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:45.880 runanga or large war councils. Some of these councils were massive, 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.320 like a meeting of two thousand Northern Maori leaders in 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:55.600 eighteen fifty four. Still, most accounts from that time revealed 0:15:55.680 --> 0:16:02.120 that the movement continually bumped up against their biggest eye obstacle, ideology. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.960 Many chiefs struggled to wrap their heads around the idea 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:11.880 of a king. Why should they copy European structure? Would 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:17.080 creating an alternate monarch to queen Victoria provoke a hostile takeover? 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:21.200 Wouldn't that all further erode the Maori way of life. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:27.080 Tami Hana and his collaborators purportedly argued that the larger 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:32.040 goal wasn't to fully mirror or adopt British culture. It 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.160 was actually the opposite, to create a position that could 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:43.080 give them consolidated negotiating power to protect and preserve Maori customs. 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:48.800 But even for Maori leaders sympathetic to that reasoning, there 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.560 was still an elephant in the room. If they did 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:59.480 agree on a king, who would it be? Here Another 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:05.119 figure of the king, Tanga Tamihana's cousin, Matene te Fuifwi, 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:10.760 was instrumental if we if we reportedly studied the ancestry 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:15.520 and deeds of hundreds of possible king candidates. He then 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:20.960 traveled extensively with his cousin to persuade those deemed suitable 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.159 to take the position. But in spite of his well 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:29.120 researched pitch and the chance to make royal history, all 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.920 of the chiefs he approached declined. Some simply weren't aligned 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:39.640 with the movement, while others cited regional authority issues. For instance, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:44.080 here is how one chief replied, quote, you are correct. 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.400 I am a chief, a descendant of your ancestors. However, 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:52.680 the problem is that my pedigree adheres to only one people. 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:58.240 My mountain does not move. I do not agree. But 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.040 like his determined cousin, and if we kept at it, 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.680 the rights leader definitely had to take many specific boxes 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.199 first and Foremost, he had to have the authority and 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:16.119 connections to win the support of enough tribes. His own 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:20.240 tribe also needed enough resources to host all manner of 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:25.800 royal functions, and the right candidate had to be wise, careful, 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:30.840 and charismatic enough to represent a wide range of Maori 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:36.760 interests while simultaneously dealing with the British. In other words, 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:41.119 the first king had to be someone with the utmost mana. 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.920 As we explored in Part one, mana is a complex, 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:54.200 sweeping Maori term, often interpreted as an individual's overall power, authority, prestige, 0:18:54.880 --> 0:19:01.080 her Maori custom, and familial lore. Seemingly, no living chief 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:06.600 had more mana than the venerated Tifuero Fuero. So Tefifi 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:11.960 approached him, and Tifera Fuero said no. Then tif wee 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:16.560 if we supposedly approached him several more times, and Tefera 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:22.240 Fuero kept saying no, and not without good reason. Tifuerfear 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.080 was likely almost eighty by this point, and his health 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.919 was failing. Additionally, as we know from Part one, he 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:36.520 reputedly had a knack for recognizing traps. Some biographers suggest 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:41.880 that the wise Chief foresaw that the Maori kingship would 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:46.320 be a thankless position. Such a ruler would be continually 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:50.560 hampered by being stuck in the middle of conflicting Maori, 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:57.040 British and tribal factions. By eighteen fifty seven, things looked 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:02.560 grim for the king movement until perhaps the most influential 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:08.360 king maker of all made his mark. We are Amu Tamihana, 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.800 the chief of another waikato Ewi or tribe, was fed 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:17.919 up with Auckland Parliament. You may remember from the articles 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:22.760 of the Treaty of Waitanga, Maori individuals were supposed to 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:28.440 be afforded the rights and privileges of British citizens. In practice, 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:32.199 this was far from the case. Quite a lot of 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:37.119 evidence points to the colonial government severely restricting the Maori 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:41.840 population from having a say in broader New Zealand legislation, 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:47.280 and even hampering them from making and enforcing laws within 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:52.120 their own tribes. A couple years earlier, we Remove had 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:56.440 gotten so frustrated with this inadequate system that he tried 0:20:56.480 --> 0:21:02.480 to petition for Maori representation with in Auckland Parliament, but 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:07.240 he was allegedly ignored for two full days while waiting 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:13.080 outside the Governor's office, all while Pakeha or white European 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:18.600 descended New Zealanders got in without any issue. The incident 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:23.120 was essentially the final straw for We Remove, who claimed 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:27.040 that Maori were a quote, treated like dogs by the 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:32.399 colonialist government, and he went back to Tifuera Fuero once more. 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:39.000 He beseeched his renowned elder. They needed change, leadership, and 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:44.760 a collective voice. It's tricky to say what exactly persuaded 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.560 Tifuera Pharoh if some nineteenth century historians are to be believed, 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:53.720 the chief was senile by then and no longer aware 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:58.120 of what he was agreeing to. Conversely, as some later 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:04.359 scholars argued, a crucial factor was that Teferafwharo regularly attended 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.119 church and responded well to the fact that we Remove 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:13.600 himself was a devout Christian convert who supported his political 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:20.040 ideas with biblical teachings. Judging by Maori oral traditions, it's 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.919 also plausible that we Remove cleverly helped to reframe te 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:30.040 Fuera Fwaro's perception of his serious ailments, rather than the 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.840 storied leader's failing health being a reason he should avoid 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:38.680 becoming king. Perhaps accepting the crown could be a final 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:44.400 meaningful chance for him to improve Maori lives, honor his lineage, 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.959 and further glorify his legacy when he wasn't quite able 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:54.240 to show his medal on a battlefield. Whatever the case, 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:59.080 he finally got to faraf Wharo to agree. In his 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:04.919 eighteen fifty acceptance speech, Tifuerafwaro walked a fine line that 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:09.480 very much seemed to be the product of considerable experience 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:15.720 rather than rambling senility. According to modern scholars, his overriding 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:21.560 intention was to unite and motivate Maori tribes, while simultaneously 0:23:21.680 --> 0:23:26.040 clarifying that his crowning was not a direct challenge to 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:31.720 British power. But representatives of the British monarchy, of course, 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:35.520 did not take it that way. The crowning of Tefuerfuero 0:23:35.640 --> 0:23:39.960 apparently made the British Governor of New Zealand, Thomas Brown, 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:45.560 exceedingly paranoid. Brown came up with a plot to occupy 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:50.520 a block of land in Waitara, despite supposedly being well 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:54.119 aware that the sale had been vetoed by the ranking 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:58.600 chief there. Assuming that this move would spark violence, he 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:02.760 planned to then us use any firm displays of Maori 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:07.600 defiance as a means to forcibly invade the region to 0:24:07.760 --> 0:24:13.040 emphasize British sovereignty and undermine the new Maori king when 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:16.639 it came time to side with a monarch, who would 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:21.280 many struggling tribes pick the eighty year old rookie who 0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:26.119 could neither control nor defend his people, or the wealthy, 0:24:26.200 --> 0:24:34.000 all powerful Queen Victoria. But Governor Brown's plan basically backfired 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:40.000 since he evidently didn't understand Maori culture well enough. Tribes 0:24:40.080 --> 0:24:43.480 may have fought fierce wars with each other for centuries, 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:48.679 but as some Maori writers and scholars note, they had 0:24:48.800 --> 0:24:54.520 no inherent problem with the idea of parallel or overlapping authorities. 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:58.399 In fact, the Maori population was very used to this 0:24:58.520 --> 0:25:03.360 with their system of eui, hapu and rangatira or tribes, 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:10.160 subtribes and chiefs. If anything, Governor Brown's shady tactics probably 0:25:10.359 --> 0:25:16.520 unified more support for Tifuera Fuero and the Kinitanga. Even so, 0:25:16.840 --> 0:25:21.880 Tifuera Fero was extremely reluctant to enter into any overt 0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:26.960 conflict with the British, he was plenty familiar with their power. 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:31.920 In addition, for a decently long stretch before his crowning, 0:25:32.480 --> 0:25:36.720 he had apparently been on solid diplomatic terms with Queen 0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:43.240 Victoria herself, but then the land dispute in Taranaki escalated 0:25:43.359 --> 0:25:47.080 to the point that in March of eighteen sixty the 0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:52.800 British Crown directed imperial troops from Australia as well as 0:25:53.000 --> 0:25:59.679 a full warship. The HMVS Victoria, was a five hundred 0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:06.200 and eighty ton vessel powered by both sail and steam. Interestingly, 0:26:06.280 --> 0:26:09.560 it was the first warship to be built in Britain 0:26:09.880 --> 0:26:13.480 and then given to a British colony, and also the 0:26:13.640 --> 0:26:18.680 first Australian warship to ever be deployed overseas. To put 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:23.399 it simply, this was a massive test for the fledgling 0:26:23.480 --> 0:26:30.000 Maori monarchy. Tefuerafaro's initial hesitation to act surely made some 0:26:30.040 --> 0:26:34.560 of his allies wonder which version of the legendary man 0:26:34.920 --> 0:26:38.879 they were going to get as a king. Had Tifuerafaro 0:26:39.000 --> 0:26:44.000 become wholly peaceful and passive in his elder years. After all, 0:26:44.200 --> 0:26:48.080 when he was crowned, he took the title of Potato, 0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:52.240 an apparent reference to his love for a dying wife, 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:56.040 as opposed to something in reference to his greatness as 0:26:56.160 --> 0:27:02.480 a warrior chief. Or was the aging the king's vaunted patients, 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:07.960 finally wearing thin because on some level he seemingly understood 0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:11.639 that no matter what he did, anger and blame would 0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:17.400 be heaped on him anyway. Ultimately, despite Tifuerfwar's side being 0:27:17.840 --> 0:27:22.360 hugely outnumbered and out gunned, or possibly even because of it, 0:27:22.960 --> 0:27:28.720 that signature warrior spirit of his finally re emerged. Her 0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:34.240 most sources, it seems unlikely that Tefwerfwear returned to Taranaki 0:27:34.320 --> 0:27:39.120 in person, but he supported Maori fighter's efforts there by 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:45.760 sending substantial reinforcements and supplies. Tiferfarar died in June of 0:27:45.840 --> 0:27:50.399 eighteen sixty, about three months after the start of the 0:27:51.160 --> 0:27:55.920 as it was later dubbed First Taranaki War, but the 0:27:55.960 --> 0:28:00.520 tone he set for the Maori king movement came carried on. 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:06.960 Despite Britain's resources and military power, the First Taranaki War 0:28:07.400 --> 0:28:11.520 ended in a stalemate, thanks in part to cunning guerrilla 0:28:11.720 --> 0:28:17.160 tactics by Maori warriors and the timely intervention of the 0:28:17.200 --> 0:28:22.359 Maori Monarch, though there was still plenty of strife to come, 0:28:22.960 --> 0:28:26.679 this was a huge win for the United Tribes of 0:28:26.720 --> 0:28:31.520 New Zealand. Like Tifuera Fuera wielding his digging implement against 0:28:31.720 --> 0:28:36.399 wave of attackers decades before he would become king, the 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:40.640 Northern chiefs proved that they would never go down without 0:28:40.680 --> 0:28:47.760 a fight. All in all, Tifuerfero's legacy is pretty unique 0:28:47.800 --> 0:28:51.600 and complex. Though he was a fearsome warrior with a 0:28:51.720 --> 0:28:56.120 lengthy military career, he didn't become king through a military 0:28:56.160 --> 0:29:01.640 campaign or a hostile takeover like many other warrior monarchs. Again, 0:29:01.760 --> 0:29:05.120 he didn't even want to be king at first, as 0:29:05.320 --> 0:29:10.360 some historians have suggested. This might be why short as 0:29:10.360 --> 0:29:13.760 his reign was, he was able to partially put his 0:29:13.880 --> 0:29:18.320 ego aside in order to navigate a nearly impossible set 0:29:18.440 --> 0:29:25.120 of political circumstances. Despite his short reign, Tifuerafwaro was able 0:29:25.160 --> 0:29:30.520 to successfully found a dynasty. Technically, he was elected as 0:29:30.640 --> 0:29:33.600 king and so his successors did not have to be 0:29:33.680 --> 0:29:38.000 blood relatives, but it still worked out that way. His 0:29:38.360 --> 0:29:43.240 son took over as king and Waikato chief and oversaw 0:29:43.400 --> 0:29:48.400 further violent conflicts against the British colonial government plus other 0:29:48.520 --> 0:29:52.440 settlers and even Maori tribes allied with them in what 0:29:52.560 --> 0:29:57.320 would eventually be called the New Zealand Wars. Then his 0:29:57.520 --> 0:30:02.040 son took over after him and and so on. Currently, 0:30:02.200 --> 0:30:07.120 there is a Maori monarch descended from this line, gawai 0:30:07.200 --> 0:30:11.400 Ho no Itipo, who was crowned queen in twenty twenty four. 0:30:12.120 --> 0:30:15.360 In many ways, the Maori monarchy and the movement that 0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:20.400 started it are still fairly divisive and controversial, just as 0:30:20.440 --> 0:30:24.640 they were back in the nineteenth century. The New Zealand 0:30:24.760 --> 0:30:29.640 Wars roped in numerous factions and continued until eighteen seventy two, 0:30:30.560 --> 0:30:36.000 but there was essentially no outright winner. Many land and 0:30:36.200 --> 0:30:41.520 sovereignty issues are still simmering throughout the multi island nation, 0:30:42.280 --> 0:30:47.280 although conflicts are now mostly fought in courtrooms instead of 0:30:47.440 --> 0:30:53.640 on battlefields. For added context, New Zealand ended their status 0:30:53.720 --> 0:30:58.400 as a British colony in nineteen oh seven, then gradually 0:30:58.480 --> 0:31:02.920 became an independent nation that is still today part of 0:31:03.000 --> 0:31:07.120 the British Commonwealth. So in a sense, there are dual 0:31:07.280 --> 0:31:11.160 heads of state in New Zealand, the British monarch and 0:31:11.400 --> 0:31:15.520 the Maori monarch. That said, it's worth pointing out that, 0:31:16.160 --> 0:31:21.560 similarly to how many Maori chieftains neither elected nor supported 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:24.760 to fware a pharaoh as king, many still do not 0:31:25.120 --> 0:31:31.400 recognize the Maori monarch Furthermore, as some writers acknowledge, the 0:31:31.440 --> 0:31:36.960 Maori monarchy functions in something of a ceremonial role, although 0:31:37.000 --> 0:31:40.600 the chosen monarch does have a certain amount of power 0:31:41.040 --> 0:31:47.840 and cultural significance, especially within the Waikato tribe. Given all 0:31:47.960 --> 0:31:52.760 of the hurdles, paradigm shifts, and the British crowns increasingly 0:31:52.920 --> 0:31:58.280 fraught history of land grabs, discrimination and forced assimilation in 0:31:58.360 --> 0:32:02.719 New Zealand throughout the nineteeenth century, it's easy to wonder 0:32:03.120 --> 0:32:08.200 how the monarchy that Tfuera Pharoh founded actually survived again. 0:32:08.440 --> 0:32:11.440 A lot comes down to mana as well as the 0:32:11.600 --> 0:32:17.640 related concept of tapu. Tapu essentially means sacred and under 0:32:17.760 --> 0:32:24.080 protection from attua. The Maori ancestor gods, people, places, and 0:32:24.320 --> 0:32:28.120 things can all be imbued with it. Like mana, tapu 0:32:28.240 --> 0:32:33.200 is connected to ancestry and can evolve over time. In 0:32:33.280 --> 0:32:38.360 becoming the first Maori monarch, Tifuera pharo infused tapoo into 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:44.640 the position, making the role, at least to some tribes, sacred, untouchable, 0:32:45.000 --> 0:32:49.400 and inherently tied to the land. In other words, the 0:32:49.720 --> 0:32:54.600 king making movement may have originally been emulating the British monarchy, 0:32:55.120 --> 0:32:58.760 but in the end, they in effect created a royal 0:32:58.880 --> 0:33:09.800 structure that was uniquely Maori. That was part two of 0:33:09.840 --> 0:33:14.160 the story of Tifuera Faro's unique rise to royalty. But 0:33:14.320 --> 0:33:17.600 stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn the 0:33:17.800 --> 0:33:32.120 profoundly relevant meaning behind several key Maori words. By now 0:33:32.200 --> 0:33:35.680 you've heard quite a bit about Maori, Ewi, and Hapu 0:33:35.880 --> 0:33:40.520 tribes and subtribes, as well as the violence and tragedy 0:33:40.680 --> 0:33:46.840 that arose when these groups were separated from their generational homelands. Fittingly, 0:33:47.080 --> 0:33:52.720 these concepts are firmly connected in Maori etymology. According to 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:58.880 the wonderfully detailed online resource Taiara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 0:33:59.400 --> 0:34:05.120 the word who literally means both clan and pregnant, which 0:34:05.200 --> 0:34:13.480 compellingly emphasizes the genealogical link between members of the same subtribes. Relatedly, Wuenua, 0:34:13.880 --> 0:34:19.160 the Maori word for land, can also be translated as placenta, 0:34:19.600 --> 0:34:26.160 which underscores the life giving connection between land and people. Finally, 0:34:26.360 --> 0:34:30.920 the word ewie or tribe can also refer to bones, 0:34:31.560 --> 0:34:45.000 a correlation that scholars claim exemplifies tribe's veneration for their ancestors. 0:34:49.120 --> 0:34:53.000 Noble blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and 0:34:53.080 --> 0:34:56.640 Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 0:34:56.880 --> 0:35:01.400 Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, 0:35:01.800 --> 0:35:06.640 Paul Jaffey, Natasha Laski, and me Danishwortz. The show is 0:35:06.800 --> 0:35:10.680