Tikitoa Adventures | New Zealand

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The Northern War - Ruapekapeka, New Zealand

Ruapekapeka: The Bat’s Nest That Shook an Empire

Sep 27

The City That Forgot Itself: Uncovering the Names Beneath Kirikiriroa | Hamilton

Jun 4

Rangiriri: The Fortress Beneath Our Feet

May 1

Te Toto Gorge | Whāingaroa | Raglan

Apr 26

Urupukapuka Island | Northland

Apr 24

Kororāreka | Russell | Northland

Apr 14

Meet Rick & Kendyl

What started as a love for hiking, history, and storytelling has grown into something much bigger. Through Tikitoa Adventures, we create cinematic journeys through Aotearoa | New Zealand, weaving together wild landscapes, ancestral kōrero, and memorable experiences. We document more than just the trails — we tell the stories beneath them.

Every video we share is grounded in purpose: to connect with the past, and inspire others to explore this country with a deeper sense of respect and wonder. From rugged peaks and hidden pā sites to quiet moments beside the fire, our adventures are shaped by the land, the people, and the history that surrounds them.

We're not just here to walk the tracks — we're here to walk them with meaning.

Join us as we uncover New Zealand’s forgotten battlegrounds, lost legends, and off-grid gems — and share the real stories of what it means to adventure with intention.

Colour me life 🎨

#ColourMeLife #CoupleGoals #TattooedCouple #SunKissed #RealLove #GoodEnergyOnly

We’ve been a bit quiet, but we never stopped.
Couple projects on the go right now, a few things taking shape behind the scenes. 🎥
Still here. Still creating.

#TikitoaAdventures #AotearoaStories #KeepBuilding

Some moments stop you in your tracks….🙇🏾‍♂️
this was one of them.
Being there as Uenuku returned home.
surrounded by the mana of
Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō… it was surreal. 👸🏾

Grateful to have witnessed it.

#TeAwamutuMuseum #UenukuReturns #TeArikinuiKuiniNgāWaiHonoITePō #NgātiRaukawa #Tainui #Maniapoto #Kīngitanga #TeAoMāori #Whakapapa #Karakia

Yesterday’s karakia at the reopening of the Te Awamutu Museum – Te Whare Taonga o Te Awamutu marked a deeply moving moment in our shared history.
Standing alongside Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō and kaumātua, witnessing the return of Uenuku, was surreal.
To see Uenuku come home, surrounded by aroha, kōrero, and the echoes of whakapapa, was an honour to be present for.

#TeAwamutuMuseum #Uenuku #TeArikiNuiKuiniNgāWaiHonoITePō #NgātiRaukawa #Waikato #TikitoaAdventures #ManiapotoFM #CulturalHeritage #AotearoaHistory

🔥 Kororāreka Burns | The Day Aotearoa Awoke to War
March 11, 1845, dawn broke over the Bay of Islands and Kororāreka went up in smoke.
Kawiti’s warriors stormed from the hills.
Heke struck at the flag.
British guns answered, but their cannon tore through their own town.
By midday, the “Hellhole of the Pacific” was ash.
Aotearoa’s first battle for sovereignty had begun.

History didn’t just happen here, it ignited here.

🎥 Have you watched the full feature on our YouTube?
Tap the link in bio to see the complete story.

#Kororareka #HoneHeke #Kawiti #NorthernWar #NewZealandHistory #AotearoaHistory #TikitoaAdventures #TeTiriti #MāoriHistory #BayOfIslands #NZHistory #ColonialHistory #Aotearoa #HistoryReel #CinematicStorytelling #MāoriResistance #FlagstaffWar #1845 #HistoricalReel #IndigenousHistory #StoryOfAotearoa

⚔️ RUAPEKAPEKA 1846
The pā that absorbed cannon fire. The trenches that pre-dated WWI.
The battle where Māori engineering forced the world’s most powerful empire to rethink warfare.

🇳🇿 This isn’t the history they taught you in school.
🎥 We’ve gone to the pā itself — the Bat’s Nest — to uncover how Māori innovation changed the course of war.

👉 Watch the full story now on YouTube: [link in bio]

#Ruapekapeka #MāoriHistory #NZHistory #ColonialWars #TrenchWarfare #HistoryTheyNeverToldYou

🦇 The Bat’s Nest.
Built by our tūpuna, carved from the earth, scarred by cannon fire.

Walking here is walking in their footsteps.
Their story is ours to remember.

🎥 Full Ruapekapeka 1846 documentary now streaming on YouTube → link in bio

#ManaMāori #Ruapekapeka #NorthernWar #maorihistory

👉 Behind the scenes on the road to Ruapekapeka.
A fortress hidden in the bush. A thousand troops couldn’t break it.
📺 Full documentary premieres TONIGHT at 7PM on YouTube.
⚡ Don’t miss the story they never taught you — link in bio

#Ruapekapeka #NewZealandHistory #MaoriWars #NorthernWar #TikitoaAdventures #HistoryRevealed #Documentary

Ko Te Wiki o te Reo Māori tēnei 🖤��🤍❤️ He taonga te reo — kōrero, tiaki, kia kaha!

#KiaKahaTeReoMāori #TeWikiOTeReoMāori #ReoRangatira #MāoriLanguageWeek

Te Uri o Kanae & Hongi Hika.
Rangihoua’s Pivotal Chiefs.

In 1814, the first Christian mission in Aotearoa was established at Rangihoua, Bay of Islands. Its survival depended on the protection and authority of Ngāpuhi leaders.

Chiefs Ruatara, Hongi Hika, and Korokoro invited Reverend Samuel Marsden to set up his station, seeing strategic value in literacy, trade, and new technologies. Hongi Hika in particular gave the mission its shield of mana and military strength, without his backing, it would not have endured.

A few years later, Te Uri o Kanae, the Rangihoua chief, formalised this arrangement by signing the deed that gave the missionaries legal right to occupy the land. His decision bound Ngāpuhi authority to the missionary presence, intertwining Māori strategy with the beginnings of New Zealand’s first European settlement.

These were not acts of simple “gift-giving.” They were calculated moves by rangatira navigating a world where muskets, Christianity, and colonisation were reshaping power itself.

#Aotearoa #MāoriHistory #Ngāpuhi #HongiHika #TeUriOKanae #Ruatara #Korokoro #Rangihoua #ColonialEncounters #Tikitoa

From battlefields to street signs.
General Cameron’s march through the Waikato left his name on Cameron Road.
Mercenary Von Tempsky stamped onto Von Tempsky Street — now reclaimed as Puutikitiki.
And Ulster Street still carries the echo of colonial regiments.

🔍 Every corner has a history. Every name carries a legacy.
🎥 Snippet from The City That Forgot Itself.

#TikitoaAdventures #ForgottenFoundations #TheCityThatForgotItself #WaikatoWars #DecoloniseHistory #MāoriHistory #CameronRoad #VonTempsky #Puutikitiki #UlsterStreet

Ruapekapeka Pā — “The Bat’s Nest” 🦇
On these grassy ridgelines in the Bay of Islands, Ngāpuhi rangatira Te Ruki Kawiti and Hōne Heke built one of the most sophisticated fortifications of the New Zealand Wars.

In early 1846, over 1,500 British troops and allies brought heavy artillery against just 500 Māori defenders. For two weeks the pā withstood relentless cannon fire. Its maze of trenches, rifle pits, and underground bunkers, innovations that baffled British military engineers, turned the pā into a fortress unlike any they had ever faced.

When the British finally stormed Ruapekapeka, they found it nearly deserted. The defenders had withdrawn strategically, preserving their mana and their people. The war effectively ended here, with no decisive victory for the Crown.

Ruapekapeka is not just a battlefield. It is a testament to Māori ingenuity, resilience, and tactical brilliance. It remains one of the most important heritage sites in Aotearoa, a place where the landscape still speaks. 🌿

✨ Today, standing here reminds us that history is written not just in books, but in the whenua itself.

#Ruapekapeka #Ngapuhi #NZHistory #AotearoaHistory #TeTiriti #ForgottenFoundations #NewZealandWars #MāoriHistory #HoneHeke #Kawiti #BayOfIslands #TikitoaAdventures #HeritageNZ #MāoriResistance #ColonialHistory #MāoriInnovation #CulturalHeritage #AotearoaStories

Riwha Tītokowaru (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine) was more than a general. He was a prophet, a peacemaker, and one of the most brilliant military strategists in New Zealand history.

Born around 1823, he inherited leadership after the death of his father, Tītokowaru the Elder. Baptised as Hohepa Otene in 1842, he embraced Christianity, joined the Kīngitanga, and fought in the First Taranaki War of 1860–61. By the mid-1860s, he was widely recognised not only as a warrior, but also as a religious leader.

In 1867 he declared a year of peace — calling it “the year of the daughters, the year of the lamb.” He even led a peace march of more than 100 followers from Hāwera to Pipiriki. But settler encroachment continued, and by 1868, peace was broken.

What followed became known as Tītokowaru’s War (1868–69).
• June 1868: His forces destroyed the blockhouse at Turuturumōkai.
• September 1868: At Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, his warriors ambushed the Forest Rangers. Among the dead was the colony’s most celebrated soldier, Gustavus von Tempsky. Crown troops fled in defeat.
• November 1868: At Moturoa, he crushed another force.
• Early 1869: At Tauranga Ika, he built what historian James Belich called “the strongest fortress ever constructed in New Zealand,” with trenches, loopholed palisades, bastions, and underground bunkers.

For a moment, British authority trembled. Governor George Bowen and the colonial government considered the real possibility that British rule in New Zealand could collapse.

And yet, this Māori general — described by Belich as “perhaps the greatest war leader either of New Zealand’s peoples has ever produced” — was left out of most schoolbooks.

Later in life, Tītokowaru turned again to peace, joining Te Whiti at Parihaka and leading a peaceful occupation near Manaia in 1886. He was arrested and jailed, but never lost his vision of reconciliation. He died in 1888.

Carvings remember him with musket in hand. Beneath him, von Tempsky and Bowen — symbols of the Crown humbled.

Why do you think this story never made it into your history class?

#Titokowaru #NgatiRuanui #AotearoaHistory #NZWars #ForgottenFoundations #VonTempsky #IndigenousResistance

⚓️ Kororāreka in 2 Minutes
From the Duke of Marlborough’s colonial tavern, to Christ Church where musket balls still scar the walls, to the resting place of rangatira Tāmati Wāka Nene.

A town once called the “Hell Hole of the Pacific” still holds the echoes of empire, faith, and resistance.

🎥 Watch the full Kororāreka story on our YouTube — link in bio.

#Kororāreka #RussellNZ #ForgottenFoundations #TikitoaAdventures #AotearoaHistory #MāoriHistory #NZHistory #TāmatiWākaNene #ChristChurchRussell #DukeOfMarlborough

A 17-year-old opened up to me about how he feels learning history at school.

Ashamed, out of place, and like he doesn’t belong.

And that’s shit.

No young person should carry that weight.

I wanted to share his words here, and ask:
how can we create spaces where our rangatahi, Māori, Pākehā, and everyone else , can learn the truth of our history without feeling shame for who they are?

What would you say to a young person who feels this way?

They told you it was about equality.
They told you it was about waste.
They told you it was about freedom.

But the truth?
It’s a machine. Offshore cash, local operators, and a conveyor belt of think tanks, PR firms, and politicians — all working to strip Te Tiriti, drown co-governance, and sell off what’s public.

This isn’t chaos. It’s choreography.
And every gear turns against Māori sovereignty.

🔎 We’ve mapped the machine. Now it’s your turn:
💥 Break it. Share it. Hold the line.

#Aotearoa #NZPolitics #TeTiriti #MāoriRights #Rangatiratanga
#ColonisationContinues #CoGovernance #HoldTheLine #BreakTheMachine
#AtlasNetwork #ThinkTank #LobbyWatch #Exposed #FollowTheMoney
#Wellington #TangataWhenua #StayBriefed #StayArmed #TruthToPower.

⚠️ Disclaimer: Information shared here is drawn from public sources and investigative reporting. It is intended for education and journalism only.

🚨 The history you were never taught.

In 1837, George Grey’s first expedition into north-west Australia collapsed.
His men were starving. Lost. On the edge of death.

He survived only because of Kaiber, a Whadjuk Noongar man —
who led Grey through a land alive with knowledge the colonisers couldn’t see.

But instead of partnership, Grey returned with plans for domination.
His journals dripped with certainty: Indigenous peoples must abandon their ways,
be absorbed into British law, Christianity, and economy.

The man whose life was saved by Indigenous generosity…
became the architect of their dispossession.

This is the story of the Australian Crucible —
and just the beginning of our upcoming long-form documentary
SIR GEORGE GREY: THE EXTENDED LEGACY.

👉 Full release coming soon on YouTube — link in bio.
Follow to make sure you don’t miss it.

#History #WorldHistory #ColonialHistory #AustralianHistory #Noongar #IndigenousHistory #Decolonise #ForgottenHistory #MāoriHistory #GeorgeGrey #LandBack #IndigenousRights #Documentary #TikitoaAdventures

Earlier this year we were in Akaroa, uncovering the stories this whenua still carries.
Many know it for the French influence — but fewer know how close Aotearoa came to being carved up by competing empires, and how those pressures shaped the struggles Māori faced.

🖤 This is the mahi your vote supports: bringing forward histories that risk being forgotten.
Tikitoa Adventures is a finalist in the 2025 Canon Oceania Cultural Grants.
❤️ Public voting decides 50% of the outcome.
🤍 Every single click helps us keep this kaupapa alive.

👉 Voting takes 10 seconds — link in our bio.

Ngā mihi nui for standing with us ✊

#CanonOceaniaGrants #TikitoaAdventures #AkaroaHistory #MāoriHistory #HiddenHistories #ToituTeTiriti

🚨 THE NEW RAUPATU IS HERE

Aotearoa was built on raupatu — Crown-backed land theft that stripped iwi of whenua, mana, and futures. Today the playbook hasn’t vanished. It’s been upgraded.

🔎 Behind “debates” about Te Tiriti, Māori rights, and co-governance sits a well-funded infrastructure: foreign-linked think tanks, policy entrepreneurs like Elizabeth Rata, and political actors who repackage old colonisation into new language.

This isn’t random. It’s coordinated.
📚 Atlas Network money and strategy →
📝 “Principles” of the Treaty rewritten in lecture halls →
📺 Talking points amplified in media →
⚖️ Laws drafted to strip tino rangatiratanga.

It’s the same software that drove raupatu in the 1800s — only now it runs through universities, courts, and Parliament.

❗ If this project succeeds, Te Tiriti will be hollowed out until it’s an empty symbol — while colonisation carries on under a new name.

🖤 Want the full receipts? Blackfiles publishes deep-dive dossiers connecting the money, people, and policies behind this agenda.
👉 Read the latest exposé: [link in bio].

💾 Save this.
📢 Share it.
🖤 Stand for Te Tiriti.

#TeTiriti #Raupatu #Aotearoa #MāoriRights #Colonisation #AtlasNetwork #ElizabethRata #CoGovernance #TinoRangatiratanga #BlackfilesAotearoa

Every story starts raw — long days, tangled cables, and chasing the light. But from the ground up, it becomes something bigger: the fight to remember.

Tikitoa Adventures uncovers suppressed Māori histories across Aotearoa — from battle sites like Rangiriri to places shaped by colonial influence like Akaroa. Our kaupapa is to protect these stories and make sure they are told by us, not erased.

We are finalists in the 2025 Canon Oceania Cultural Grants. Public votes decide 50% of the outcome.

👉 If you’ve ever wondered “Who tells the hidden histories of Aotearoa?” — this is how.
Help us keep telling them. It takes just 10 seconds to vote — link in bio.

#CanonOceaniaGrants #TikitoaAdventures #ToituTeTiriti #MāoriHistory #AotearoaHistory #HiddenHistories

What if I told you the attacks on Te Tiriti aren’t homegrown?
They’re imported. Written offshore. Funded by billionaires who will never set foot on these shores.

➡️ Atlas Network — 500+ think tanks, 100+ countries.
➡️ Funded by Koch, Exxon, Big Tobacco, Big Tech.
➡️ Their mission? Privatise. Deregulate. Silence Indigenous rights.

Aotearoa isn’t immune.
Every time you hear a politician say “one law for all” —
every time Māori health or water rights are rolled back —
you’re hearing Atlas, not New Zealanders.

This is colonisation rebranded.
Not rifles and redcoats.
But reports, lobbyists, and corporate money.

🕵🏽‍♂️ We’ve put together the full deep dive on Atlas in Aotearoa.
Read it now on our Substack — link in bio.
@blackfiles_aotearoa

#AtlasNetwork #TeTiriti #MāoriRights #Aotearoa #Colonisation #PoliticalTruths #IndigenousRights

⚖️ When “protection” meant silence.

Sir George Grey is often remembered as a “saviour” of colonies. But in South Australia, his policies told another story.

🔻 He slashed spending to win applause in London.
🔻 He upheld laws that erased Aboriginal testimony.
🔻 He governed a system where settlers could kill with impunity — so long as no European witnessed it.

Behind the numbers were lives. At Rufus River, more than 30 Ngarrindjeri people were massacred in reprisal. Along the Coorong, the Tanganekald were gunned down after the Maria shipwreck. These weren’t isolated “incidents.” They were part of a frontier war written out of the official record.

Grey’s empire was built on this foundation — and its shadow still reaches into Aotearoa and beyond.

This reel is just one chapter of our upcoming long-form feature on Grey’s legacy. The full story drops soon on YouTube. 🔗 Link in bio.

#Aotearoa #SouthAustralia #Ngarrindjeri #Tanganekald #ColonialHistory #GeorgeGrey #TruthTelling #TreatyJustice #IndigenousHistory #EmpireExposed #HistoryUncovered

🕵️‍♂️ She’s not a politician.
But her ideas are the blueprint behind today’s rollback of Māori rights.

Elizabeth Rata — Emeritus Professor at the University of Auckland — is framed as an “expert.” But her theories aren’t neutral. They’re a political doctrine.

Her writings claim:
⚖️ Te Tiriti was just a handover of sovereignty
⚖️ Partnership is a “myth”
⚖️ Tikanga has no legal standing
⚖️ Māori collective rights = “neo-tribal elitism”

➡️ Reduce all rights to the individual.
➡️ Erase tino rangatiratanga.
➡️ Assimilation rebranded as “democracy.”

📌 David Seymour cites her in Parliament.
📌 The Treaty Principles Bill mirrors her doctrine almost word-for-word.
📌 National, ACT, and NZ First deploy her ideas to: abolish Te Aka Whai Ora, scrap Māori wards, roll back te reo Māori, and delegitimise the Waitangi Tribunal.

But here’s the catch:
📜 Te Tiriti’s Māori text guaranteed tino rangatiratanga.
⚖️ NZ courts have upheld tikanga in law.
📚 The Waitangi Tribunal recognises partnership and collective rights.
🌍 International law (UNDRIP) affirms Indigenous authority.
🗣 Māori scholars — Moana Jackson, Ani Mikaere, Claire Charters — have dismantled her model point by point.

Her framework collapses under history, law, tikanga, and global Indigenous rights.

This isn’t “just debate.” It’s a pipeline:
University lecture halls → Think tank reports → Media op-eds → Parliamentary speeches → Law.

❌ Neutral scholarship? No.
✅ Political scaffolding for assimilation.

Know the doctrine. Expose the pipeline. Protect tino rangatiratanga.

#ElizabethRata #TreatyPrinciplesBill #TeTiriti #TinoRangatiratanga #OneLawForAll #DemocraticUniversalism #ColonialLogic #NZPolitics #MāoriRights #TikangaInLaw #AcademicCapture #MoanaJackson #AniMikaere #ClaireCharters #WaitangiTribunal #DecoloniseAotearoa

🧠 She’s not in Parliament. But her theories are in policy.

Elizabeth Rata — a University of Auckland professor whose published ideas are now the intellectual backbone of anti-Māori politics.

Her theory of Democratic Universalism has become the reference point for:
📌 ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill
📌 NZ First’s attacks on “race-based policy”
📌 National’s moves against Māori Health, Māori wards, and co-governance

Her writings argue:
👉 The Treaty gives Māori no special rights
👉 Tikanga has no place in law
👉 “One law for all” is the only legitimate form of democracy

But here’s what that really means in practice:
❌ Erasing tino rangatiratanga
❌ Rewriting Te Tiriti as a “citizenship contract”
❌ Removing obligations for partnership, power-sharing, or constitutional change

This isn’t coincidence. Her theories have been cited in reports, submissions, and parliamentary speeches for over a decade. Politicians use them as academic cover to justify dismantling Māori rights — while claiming it’s “just democracy.”

📚 Māori scholars like Moana Jackson and Claire Charters — along with the Waitangi Tribunal — have directly challenged this framework. Their voices are often sidelined, while hers is platformed.

⚖️ In our view, this isn’t neutral scholarship. It’s a political doctrine reshaping the future of Aotearoa — one citation at a time.

👁 Swipe to learn how these theories filter from lecture halls into law.
🖊 Save. Share. Speak out — silence is consent.

#ElizabethRata #OneLawForAll #DemocraticUniversalism #TreatyOfWaitangi #TeTiriti #TikangaInLaw #CoGovernance #MāoriHealth #MoanaJackson #AcademicCapture #NZPolitics #ColonialLogic #TinoRangatiratanga #DecoloniseAotearoa

“This land was taken by force.
And the man who engineered it still has streets, schools, and towns named after him.

Sir George Grey — hailed as a saviour, remembered as a statesman — was also the architect of invasion, confiscation, and cultural erasure in Aotearoa.

Our upcoming film uncovers the full story of Grey’s life and legacy:
• From condemning slavery in Britain… to ripping Indigenous children from their whānau.
• From being saved by a Noongar guide in Australia… to drafting policies that stripped First Nations people of justice.
• From ordering the unlawful arrest of Te Rauparaha… to engineering the invasion of Waikato and the confiscation of 3.4 million acres.
• From suppressing Māori sovereignty movements… to amassing one of the largest collections of Māori manuscripts — preserving while censoring the very culture he undermined.

Grey’s name is carved into our maps, but so too are the scars of the wars he set in motion.
This is not just history — it is the foundation of modern inequality in Aotearoa.

⚡ The full documentary is coming soon to YouTube. Follow us there (link in bio) so you don’t miss the premiere.

#SirGeorgeGrey #NZHistory #MāoriHistory #AotearoaHistory #ColonialHistory #ForgottenFoundations #DecoloniseHistory #LandWars #HiddenHistories #HistoryUncovered #Ringatū #TeKooti #TeRauparaha #Kīngitanga #TikitoaAdventures

⚠️ “Warning: This will challenge what you’ve been taught about our history.”

“Kūpapa.”
Once it meant neutral.
By the Land Wars — it meant Māori who fought for the Crown.
Today, it’s heard as traitor.

Without kūpapa, colonisation may have stalled.
With them — raupatu exploded.
Pan-Māori unity shattered.
Crown sovereignty locked in.

Some fought for survival.
Some for mana.
Some for land.
Some for guns.
But the outcome was the same:
Division that changed Aotearoa forever.

👉 This isn’t just history.
It’s a warning.
Colonisation thrives on division — then and now.

💬 Do we stay silent? Or do we name it?

#Kupapa #NZHistory #MāoriHistory #LandWars #Decolonise #TruthTelling #AotearoaHistory

⚠️ Warning: This will challenge what you’ve been taught about our history.

“Kūpapa.”
A word that once meant neutral.
By the Land Wars, it meant Māori who fought for the Crown.
Today, many hear it as traitor.

Without kūpapa, colonisation may have stalled.
With them, raupatu (confiscations) exploded. Pan-Māori unity was broken. Crown sovereignty was cemented.

Some joined for survival. Some for mana. Some for land or guns.
But the outcome was the same — division that changed Aotearoa forever.

This isn’t just history. It’s a warning.
Colonisation thrives on division — then and now.

Do we stay silent, or do we name it?

#NZHistory #MāoriHistory #LandWars #Kupapa #Colonialism #AotearoaHistory #TruthTelling #Decolonise

📜 TREASON AGAINST TE TIRITI
Nine times the Crown — past and present — broke its own promise.

#9 – Henry Sewell
The insider who told on them
NZ’s first Premier. Exposed the Native Land Court’s true purpose: “to destroy the Māori social system.”
Proves breaches weren’t ignorance — they were calculated.

#8 – William Fox
“Flimsy sophistry”
His words for the Treaty. Claimed Māori only owned land they farmed.
Gave settlers the moral cover to take the rest — then tossed back crumbs decades later.

#7 – Governor George Grey
33 million acres, gone
The Governor who smiled in meetings and signed the land away.
Promised protection, delivered confiscation — and a policy to erase Māori identity.

#6 – Donald McLean
The man who broke the system
From open talks to “secret deals” with individuals to fracture collective ownership.
Engineered the Waitara purchase that set the country on fire.

#5 – Governor Thomas Gore Browne
The trigger man
Bought Waitara against its chief’s will. Declared martial law.
His decision lit the fuse for war — and the bloodshed that followed.

#4 – John Bryce & Parihaka
The day peace was invaded
1600 troops marched into a village armed only with bread and words.
Leaders jailed without trial. Homes torched. Land stolen again.

#3 – Foreshore & Seabed Act 2004
The modern land grab
The Crown claimed the entire coastline.
Erased Māori rights in law — condemned by the United Nations.

#2 – David Seymour & the Treaty Principles Bill (2024–2025)
The attempted rewrite
Pushed to redefine Treaty principles in law — stripping tino rangatiratanga down to property rights.
90% of public submissions opposed. Massive hīkoi. Tribunal called it a “gross breach.”
Same old playbook — dressed in modern language.

#1 – Chief Justice James Prendergast
The man who erased the Treaty
In 1877, called Te Tiriti “a simple nullity.”
Ripped it out of NZ law for over a century — clearing the way for systemic theft.

💬 Which of these breaches do you think had the most lasting impact on Aotearoa?
Share your thoughts below ⬇️

#Tiriti #TiritiOWaitangi #Aotearoa #NewZealandHistory #MāoriRights

📜 The 9 Who Fought the Empire
These are the leaders who stood against one of the most powerful empires in history.
Warriors, prophets, tacticians and visionaries who fought for land, culture and tino rangatiratanga.
History called them rebels. Their people knew them as defenders.

9️⃣ Te Puea Herangi – Revived the Kīngitanga, resisted WWI conscription and rebuilt her people’s strength in the shadow of confiscation.
8️⃣ Hōne Heke Pōkai – Felled the British flagstaff four times, striking at imperial pride and igniting the Northern War.
7️⃣ Tāwhiao – The exiled Māori King who transformed loss into political and cultural survival.
6️⃣ Pōtatau Te Wherowhero – First Māori King, uniting iwi into a powerful stand for sovereignty.
5️⃣ Riwha Tītokowaru – South Taranaki strategist who came close to driving colonial forces from the land.
4️⃣ Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki – Guerrilla leader, prophet, and founder of the Ringatū faith, whose campaigns reshaped resistance.
3️⃣ Te Ruki Kawiti – Northern War master tactician, his pā defences rewriting the rules of warfare.
2️⃣ Te Whiti o Rongomai – Prophet of peace whose vision inspired movements far beyond Aotearoa.
🏆 1. Tohu Kākahi – Co-leader of Parihaka, unarmed before rifles, unbroken in exile, embodying mana in the face of empire.

📊 Ranked by impact on sovereignty, strategic brilliance, courage under pressure, lasting legacy, and the degree to which history tried to erase them.

🔥 This is not just history. It is proof that Māori unity, ingenuity and relentless resistance met colonial power head-on.

#MaoriHistory #AotearoaHistory #DecoloniseHistory #HiddenHistories #ColonialHistory #NZHistory #IndigenousResistance #LandWars #Parihaka #Kingitanga #ForgottenFoundations #TikitoaAdventures

Aotearoa’s 9 Worst Colonial War Criminals — Ranked

They called it “settlement.” History calls it colonisation.
Behind the myths are scorched Māori villages, stolen land, and entire iwi driven from their whenua.

9️⃣ Gustavus von Tempsky – Prussian adventurer turned colonial officer. Painted as a hero of the New Zealand Wars, but his raids left pā in ashes and taonga looted.

8️⃣ Thomas McDonnell – In the Taranaki War, he used scorched-earth tactics, destroying kāinga, gardens, and sacred sites, leaving thousands of Māori homeless and starving.

7️⃣ Frederick Whitaker – Premier who wrote the 1863 New Zealand Settlements Act, legalising the confiscation of over one million acres of Māori land — then profiting personally.

6️⃣ Thomas Gore Browne – Governor who sparked the First Taranaki War in 1860 by forcing through the illegal Waitara land purchase.

5️⃣ John Bryce – Minister for Native Affairs who led the armed invasion of Parihaka in 1881. Homes destroyed, leaders arrested without trial, hundreds exiled.

4️⃣ James Fraser – In the Bay of Plenty Campaign, he executed prisoners of war without trial and left bodies on display to terrorise survivors.

3️⃣ Marmaduke Nixon – Led the Rangiaowhia massacre in 1864, where women, children, and elders died when a church sheltering them was set on fire.

2️⃣ George Stoddart Whitmore – East Coast campaigns marked by forced marches, summary executions, and driving prisoners — men, women, children — to cliff edges.

1️⃣ Sir George Grey – Twice Governor and Premier. Orchestrated the Waikato invasion and the confiscation of 1.2 million acres. Mastered the art of rewriting history, casting himself as a “civiliser” while dismantling Māori sovereignty.

These are not just “men of their time.” By today’s standards, their actions would be war crimes.
History gave them statues and street names. We give them the record they deserve.

#NewZealandHistory #MāoriHistory #ColonialCrimes #LandConfiscation #WaikatoWar #TaranakiWar #Parihaka #IndigenousRights #HiddenHistory #DecoloniseAotearoa #TruthTelling #NZHistory #InvestigativeHistory

🪶 STOLEN LANDS

In the 1860s, the Crown didn’t just take land.
It took futures.

Armed with the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, they labelled entire iwi “rebels” — not for attacking, but for refusing to sell. That label gave them the legal cover to seize more than 1.2 million acres.

Māori were marched off their whenua at gunpoint. Crops burned. Villages emptied. Urupā (burial grounds) ploughed for pasture.
Within months, confiscated land was on-sold to settlers, speculators, and foreign investors.

And who thrived?
Not the dispossessed.
The Crown. The banks. Settler families whose wealth and influence still echo in street names, farms, and political power today.

Some call it history.
But look around — the benefits of raupatu (confiscation) are still being collected, and the losses are still unpaid.

This wasn’t an accident.
It was policy.

Images courtesy of Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand) and Hamilton City Libraries Heritage Collections.

#StolenLands #Raupatu #MāoriHistory #AotearoaHistory #ColonialTruth #DecoloniseAotearoa #IndigenousJustice #Whenua #TruthTelling #TinoRangatiratanga

They look like quiet fields now.
But in the 1840s, these were some of the most advanced fortresses in the world.

Māori engineers reshaped the traditional pā into the “gunfighter pā” — a fortress built to face muskets and heavy artillery.
Flax-padded walls that caught bullets.
Deep trench networks to move and fire without being seen.
Bombproof bunkers dug into the earth.
Angles and traps designed to bleed an attacking army.

At Ōhaeawai, 40 British soldiers were killed in minutes.
At Ruapekapeka, weeks of bombardment barely scratched the walls.
At Rangiriri, trenches stretched from river to lake, holding back thousands of troops.

Some historians say these forts were an early form of trench warfare — decades before it appeared in Europe.
Walk the sites today and the lines are still there, cut into the earth.
The land remembers.

📍 Ruapekapeka Pā | Ōhaeawai | Rangiriri
#NZHistory #MāoriHistory #GunfighterPa #Ruapekapeka #Ohaeawai #Rangiriri #NewZealandWars #TrenchWarfare #IndigenousInnovation #TikitoaAdventures

We get comments.
“Ballhead.”
“Savages.”
“F***ing Māoris.”
“White people are the real problem.”
“All Pākehā are guilty.”

Here’s the truth:

Our kaupapa doesn’t come from hate.
It comes from history.

Because this man here?
That’s my great-grandfather —
Thomas Edward Pengelly Mangu Tawhai Emery.
Ngāti Maniapoto. Ngāti Matakore.
And the grandson of a British settler, Thomas Pengelly Emery, who married Rangimohia, a wāhine rangatira of this whenua.

I don’t need to explain that.
But I will say this:

🧠 Blanket blame doesn’t bring healing.
👊🏽 Cheap insults aren’t resistance.
🔊 And racial slurs thrown at our kaupapa?
They just prove why it’s needed.

This land is built on mixed lines.
🧬 Mixed legacies.
🪓 And yes — stolen foundations.

But you can hold truth without throwing punches.
You can face history without needing a scapegoat.
And you can walk both sides of a whakapapa line — without erasing either.

This isn’t about me.
But it is about my tūpuna.
And my tamariki.

📍 Te Kōpua / Te Awamutu
🧬 6+ generations deep
✊🏽 Still standing

#TikitoaAdventures #Whakapapa #NgātiManiapoto #NgātiMatakore #MixedHeritage #TruthTellers #AotearoaHistory #DecoloniseTheNarrative #NotYourScapegoat

A Map of Aotearoa – A Blueprint for Colonial Power 🗺️

This hand‑drawn 1861 map of Te Ika‑a‑Māui (North Island) tells a story that goes far beyond geography. It’s titled: “Sketch Map of the North Island of New Zealand shewing the Native tribes, their population, their land in yellow, with British settlements in red.”

Created for Governor Sir George Grey’s administration, this was not a map for Māori. It was a tool of colonisation, a snapshot of Aotearoa just two years before the New Zealand Settlements Act of 1863 and the Invasion of the Waikato, events that led to the mass confiscation (raupatu) of Māori land. The map’s own notes reveal the scale of this project, proudly stating the Crown had already acquired “nearly 6 Million Acres” of land.

The map reduces entire iwi and hapū to numbers, treating whenua and people as resources to be measured, managed, and taken. This was the colonial playbook:

📜 Count the people.
📍 Mark the land.
💰 Seize what you can.

Yet, through every confiscation, every redrawn boundary, every survey like this, iwi endured.
Today, names like Waikato, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāpuhi, and Ngāti Kahungunu remain, not as statistics on a colonial map, but as living whakapapa.

👉 How does it feel to see our whenua and people reduced to numbers on a colonial blueprint from 1861, knowing what came next?

📷 Image: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Map 2563

#Aotearoa #MāoriHistory #Decolonise #NZHistory #TikitoaAdventures

Grey Street. Grey towns. Grey statues.
His name is everywhere.

But to many, Sir George Grey was the architect of war, dispossession, and colonial control.

🎥 COMING SOON – The Untold Story of George Grey

🔍 What do you think New Zealand would look like today if leaders like Grey had been held accountable for their actions?

👇 Let us know your thoughts below.

#NZHistory #Aotearoa #ColonialHistory #GeorgeGrey #MāoriHistory #IndigenousHistory #ForgottenFoundations #TikitoaAdventures

Wiremu Tāmihana – The Kingmaker.
A visionary Māori leader who played a pivotal role in establishing the Kīngitanga (Māori King Movement), Tāmihana consistently championed diplomacy and peace in a time of deep colonial tension.

In this letter to Governor George Grey, he wrote:

“Friend, your advice is very good… Yes, let it remain and I will view it and think it over.”

It’s a quiet yet profound reminder that history is not only shaped by battles and dates – but by letters, choices, and words that carried the power to change a nation.

💭 What do you think Aotearoa might look like today if leaders like Tāmihana had truly been listened to?

#WiremuTamihana #TheKingmaker #MaoriHistory #AotearoaHistory #NewZealandHistory #TeKingitanga #NgatiHaua #IndigenousHistory #PeacefulResistance #HistoricalLetters #historymatters

This striking red flag – marked by a cross, crescent moon, and star – flew as Māori stood united in one of the most pivotal moments of our history.
It symbolised the growing power of the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement) and the Pai Mārire faith, carried into battle by iwi defending their land and authority.
At the heart of this stand was Hēnare Wiremu Taratoa, a lay preacher and warrior of Ngāi Te Rangi. Days before the 1864 Battle of Gate Pā (Pukehinahina), Taratoa issued Taratoa’s Challenge – a formal declaration to the British outlining Māori grievances and their reasons for war.
Inside the formidable earthwork fortifications of Gate Pā, Taratoa also circulated a code of conduct grounded in Christian values: care for the wounded, respect for the dead, and mercy to the defeated. Following their strategic victory at Gate Pā, Māori defenders upheld this code – leaving food, water, and messages of compassion for the wounded enemy inside the pā.
This flag, these men, and their actions remind us that resistance was not only about strength of arms – but about justice, mana, and a vision for Māori sovereignty, championed by leaders like Wiremu Tāmihana, the ‘Kingmaker’ of the Kīngitanga.
This isn’t just a piece of cloth. It carries a legacy of unity, honour, and an unbroken demand for justice.
💬 What does this story mean for Aotearoa today? Thoughts?

THE PATTERN OF POWER: How one minister keeps breaking the rules.
From leaked Covid data and mocking political opponents to bypassing the Prime Minister and breaching the Cabinet Manual, a clear and concerning pattern has emerged.
This isn’t about one mistake. It’s a series of documented incidents that collectively test the very foundations of our democracy. When a minister can publicly flout the rules with no consequences, it sends a dangerous message: that the Cabinet Manual, Standing Orders, and the Ministerial Code are not laws, but optional guidelines.
Accountability begins with us. This pattern survives because we let it.
#NZPolitics #Accountability #Democracy #NewZealand #DavidSeymour #PoliticalSatire #SocialJustice #WaitangiTribunal #CabinetManual

MP does a haka in Parliament? Booted immediately.

A Minister breaks Cabinet rules, oversteps foreign policy lines, and sends an unauthorised letter to the UN? Just a polite ‘talking to.’

This isn’t an accident. It’s a gaping accountability gap at the heart of our system.

We’re seeing a pattern: rule-breaking by Ministers with zero real consequences. Remember the Land Rover stunts, vaccine code leaks, bomb jokes, and that unauthorized UN letter?

If *they* want respect for the rules, *they* need to live by them. It’s that simple.

NO MORE EXCUSES. ENFORCE THE RULES.

👇 Do you agree? Should Ministers face the exact same accountability as everyone else? Let us know in the comments!

#NZPol #NewZealandPolitics #Accountability #RuleOfLaw #ParliamentNZ #NZGovernment #Democracy #Transparency #PoliticalIntegrity #Fairness #EqualStandards #NoDoubleStandards #PublicTrust #DemandAccountability #WakeUpNZ #SpeakUpNZ #CivicDuty #NZNews #CurrentEventsNZ #PoliticalDebate #GovernmentResponsibility #EthicsInPolitics #MinisterialConduct #CabinetRules #ForeignPolicyNZ #UnauthorisedActions #PoliticalReform #NZVoice #HoldThemAccountable #JusticeForNZ

From the summit of Mt John, you see two worlds collide. 🏔️✨

Below, Lake Tekapo glows—a jewel in the Mackenzie Basin. Once endless native grasslands, this landscape was transformed by fire and sheep runs. Now, there’s a quiet movement to restore what was lost. 🌾🗺️

Above, one of the world’s largest Dark Sky Reserves stretches overhead. Up here, astronomers study galaxies millions of light-years away under skies so clear they’re protected by law. 🔭🌌

Travel isn’t just about seeing. It’s about understanding.

👉 What’s a place that taught you something? Share below.

#LakeTekapo #MtJohnObservatory #DarkSkyReserve #NZTravel #ConservationStories #TravelDeeper

🚐💭 “This road isn’t just a line on a map. It’s an invitation to slow down. To listen. Out here, the land teaches patience. Teaches respect. Reminds us we’re only visitors.”

Driving through the South Island in our van, we’re trying to travel with intention. Leave lighter footprints. Honour the stories older than any map.

What place has taught you something? 👇 Tell us below.

#VanLifeNZ
#SouthIslandNZ
#TravelWithRespect
#Manaakitanga
#AotearoaStories
#SlowTravel
#TikitoaAdventures

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@tikitoa_aotearoa

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