Record status: Review needed. The reconstruction is a visual interpretation, never evidence.
Where
Pirongia, Waikato, Waikato.
What happened
Thousands sheltered in the huge Waikato pā when Ngāpuhi attacked with firearms. Panic in the trenches caused many deaths by crushing. A young Te Wherowhero — later the first Māori King — fought here.
Continue the story
Sources
Manatū Taonga — NZHistory
Mātakitaki Pā
NZHistory's account of Mātakitaki as a musket wars killing field and of Hongi Hika's war parties moving south.
Open source ↗Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Musket wars – Page 4: Waikato
Covers Waikato in the musket wars, including the 1821 expulsion of Ngāti Toa from Kāwhia and Waikato campaigns into Taranaki.
Open source ↗