The Dog Tax war was a confrontation in 1898 between the Crown and a group of Northern Māori, led by Hone Riiwi Toia, opposed to the enforcement of a 'dog tax'. It has been described by some authors as the last gasp of the 19th-century wars between the Māori and Pākehā settlers. It was, however, a bloodless "war", with only a few shots being fired. Hone Heke Ngapua, MHR for Northern Māori, was responsible for de-escalating the confrontation.