“After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the Union Jack had replaced the flag of the United Tribes as New Zealand’s official flag. Hobson had the United Tribes flag removed from the flagstaff at Kororāreka (the New Zealand Company’s version of the flag was also hauled down at Port Nicholson). Heke saw this as a rejection of the equal status of Māori with the government. He had gifted the flagstaff to Kororāreka so that the Māori flag could be flown there. Heke believed that a symbolic gesture against the flag would emphasize that his grievance was with the government. He had no desire to hurt or alarm settlers.”
Focusing Question 1: “Why did conflict break out in the Bay Of Islands in 1845?”
Usefulness of evidence to focusing question:
This piece of evidence is from an article found on an official New Zealand history website. It is useful because it shows how some of the Māori felt towards the British gaining power over New Zealand which led to the break out of conflict in the Bay of Islands. It also tells us the British had little regard for the Māori culture and traditions. This angered some of the Māori chiefs such as Hone Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti.
Source reliability:
This source is relatively reliable because it is from a website which specifies in New Zealand’s history but they do not state where they get their sources from so we can only assume that what is written there is true. Because the government owns this website they might have only shown one side of the story since the majority of the government are of British origin.
Source:
Origins of the Northern War http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/northern-war/origins Date Accessed: 23 April