Like many UoA students, I have walked towards the main campus down Symonds Street too many times to count. You most likely have noticed the statue on the corner of Wakefield and Symonds Street – a bare-breasted woman laying a
Like many UoA students, I have walked towards the main campus down Symonds Street too many times to count. You most likely have noticed the statue on the corner of Wakefield and Symonds Street – a bare-breasted woman laying a fern frond across the stone monument. However, if you’re as unobservant as I am, you may have failed to read its somewhat uncomfortable inscription.
“In memory of the brave men belonging to the imperial and colonial forces and the friendly Maoris who gave their lives during the New Zealand Wars 1845 – 1872. Through war they won the peace we know.”
‘Imperial and colonial forces?’ ‘Friendly Maoris?’ These awkward words hint at the monument’s uncomfortable history. I decided to do a little further research, mainly because I was embarrassed it had taken me so long to read a sign I had been walking past for five years straight.
It turns out the memorial, known simply as the New Zealand Wars Memorial, was commissioned by the Victoria League with the aim of preserving the memory of Queen Victoria and the deeds of British soldiers in early New Zealand. The inscription commemorates the British colonial soldiers, along with the government-allied Maori, who fought in the NZ land wars against Maori and Maori-allied settlers. Fighting was sparked initially in retaliation to large-scale land confiscation and disputed land purchases, which saw Maori lose 16,000 km squared of their land. During the wars, the colonial government also deployed troops to quash the Kīngitanga (Maori king) movement in order to make Maori pledge allegiance to Queen Victoria. Land was eventually confiscated from ‘rebel’ and ‘loyal’ Iwi alike.
Many believe that New Zealand’s race relations are too good for us to ever need to wor