This weekend, hundreds of people from around the country will descend on a Northland pā to remember one of the most famous battles ever fought on New Zealand soil.  

It's the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā, the final engagement of the 1845-1846 Northern War, which saw 400 Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine defenders against a force of about 1600 British troops and Māori allies.  

It is the 180th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā. It's been brewing for a while, the whole battle was. Anyway, back in the day, Māori were unhappy with how the settlers were treating them – they were making sniping attacks on Russell.  

Meanwhile, Hōne Heke was merrily chopping down the Russell flagpole time and time again – he did it four times all up. So we ended up with troops arriving from Sydney and we ended up with a war. And remember, this is just six years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.  

It all came to a head at Ruapekapeka. The Brits bought the guns and the cannons. The Māori built world-leading fortifications and bunkers and escape routes. They were clever. They chose a site where there was a well inside the pā, which meant that they could survive a siege. Now the war ended in a truce of sorts, with the Māori chief Kawiti famously telling Governor George Grey, if you have had enough, then I have had enough. But if you have not had enough, then I have not had enough either. Straight out of a movie, isn't it?  

They all had enough, so there was a truce. Notably, no Māori land confiscations after the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā, which became, of course, commonplace in the following Waikato and Taranaki Wars.  

So look, these wars, these New Zealand wars, fascinate me because I never learnt about them at school. I guess at the time they were a guilty little secret to be kept from new generations. So as an adult, I was surprised to find out that these battles were a full-scale war – in our country.  

The British Expeditionary Force numbers ended out at 18,000 soldiers. It was the biggest force the British had ever mustered up to that point outside their borders, outside their country. We were the empire's biggest war of the time, and yet here I was in a New Zealand school back in the 70s, not learning about it.  

And of course, after the Waikato War, we had those series of land confiscations that happened to punish the Māori for their rebellion, and those land confiscations carry on today. In a moment of reflection, you might want to consider how the Irish and the Scots feel now about their historical battles with the English back in the day. And then you might understand how Māori back in the day really weren't feeling the “we are one people” vibe at all.  

But this weekend, we will remember. Government ministers will go there, the Defence Force will go there, the British High Commission will be there. And this is an important part of our formation as a country, we had a war here.