page_title: Battle of Moremonui
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Moremonui / Background
caption_attribution_description: View of Moremonui from the Southern Hill
context_page_description: The battle of Moremonui was fought between Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi, two Māori iwi, in northern New Zealand in either 1807 or 1808. The Ngāpuhi force had a few muskets, making this the first occasion Māori used muskets in warfare. The Ngāti Whātua force ambushed the Ngāpuhi, and won the battle, which occurred at Moremonui Gully where it enters Ripiro Beach, 19 kilometres south of Maunganui Bluff on the west coast of Northland. It could reasonably be called the first battle of the Musket Wars between Māori, which took place over the next few decades.
context_section_description: The battle of Moremonui was preceded by skirmishes in 1806 between Ngāpuhi in the north, led by one of their rangatira (chiefs), Pokaia, on one side, and Kaipara subtribes of Ngāti Whātua in the south on the other. The southern groups were led by Tāoho, rangatira of Te Roroa, and Murupaenga, rangatira of the Ngāti Rongo subtribe of Ngāti Whātua.
  In 1807 Pokaia proposed that Ngāpuhi mount a major war expedition against Te Roroa. About 500 Ngāpuhi warriors, most from the Kaikohe area and a few from the Hokianga, assembled under Pokaia. In response to Ngāpuhi preparations, Ngāti Whātua forces assembled under Tāoho, Murupaenga, Te Wana-a-riri of Ngāti Whātua, and Te Hekeua of Te Uri-o-Hau, intending to meet the Ngāpuhi before they reached the northern Kaipara. Both sides were armed with the usual striking weapons, but the first European settlement had recently formed at Kororāreka in Ngāpuhi territory, and a few of the Ngāpuhi warriors had acquired muskets.
caption: The mouth of Moremonui Gully viewed from the southern side, with battle monument at lower right
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