"'[K]upapa alliances became a significant part of the new Maori politics of the later 1860s."

"In 2014 calls came from some Mãori and Pakeha commentators for commemoration of those lost in the New Zealand Wars, at the same level as occurs for New Zealand's overseas wars. Those calls sought equal status with Anzac Day for a national day of remembrance for those lost in the New Zealand Wars. This is a well-merited suggestion. However, those making such calls must face up to a hard reality from history that is commonly not addressed, probably because of the difficulty it raises.

"The difficulty is that for such commemorations to be accurate and inclusive would require an informed and frank recognition of the differing Mãori positions throughout the New Zealand Wars. In turn that would require a recognition that casualties in battles involving Mãori-on-Maori conflicts in the earlier and later wars were often as heavy, or heavier, than in the battles involving Pakeha Imperial or colonial armies and Mãori. As this book shows, the list of such clashes between Mãori covers all the periods of war in New Zealand from 1845 to 1872. Casualties were suffered on many occasions by both Maori sides, solely at Mãori hands. ...

"'[K]upapa alliances became a significant part of the new Maori politics of the later 1860s. Their decisions and actions would always be their own, based on intricate calculations of the balance of power between the tribes, and on the best means to protect the land and its resources.' [Anderson, Binny,  ...

"What is mostly lacking, [however], in the various forms of publication, is detailed analyses of why many Mäori throughout the whole course of the New Zealand Wars aligned with the Crown or settler Government in fighting against other Mãori. A voluminous post-1996 body of literature explores in more detail some motivating reasons specific to particular areas, iwi or periods of time, but there is no one detailed narrative as to the military endeavours of Mãori aligned on the side of the Crown or settler Government, or their motivations. ...

"Judith Binney['s] ... 'Redemption Songs: A Life of Te Kooti Arkirangi Te Turuki' ... [for example] rarely recognised the depth of resentment that Te Kooti's repeated attacks caused among other Mäori, and their extended whanaunga (blood relatives); and she did not seem to identify this as the major reason why he faced so many vengeful pursuers. ... The reaction of other Mãori to the threat Te Kooti posed demands recognition as a major motivating factor in the widespread Maori opposition in the field to him.

"Dr Monty Soutar's doctoral thesis on Rapata Wahawaha, published in 2000 ... [shows] the other side of the particular coin relating to Wahawaha - one of the pre-eminent figures of the last seven years of the wars. ...

"James Belich posed the issue well as long ago as 1996 in 'Making Peoples': 'In a kind of mirror of Pakeha evasions, the role of kupapa is also downplayed in Maori memories.
'Might-have-been history is a dangerous game, but it is very hard to see how the later wars could have been won without kupapa help...' ...

"For any commemoration of the losses in the New Zealand Wars to be historically accurate, then, the reality that the wars were not simply a two-sided Crown-Mãori conflict would need to be acknowledged. The wars involved three groupings - dissident Mãori; Pakeha forces (either British Imperial Army or, later on, settler Government military forces); and Maori who aligned with the Crown or the settler Government for a complex range of reasons. All three groupings suffered large losses fighting for their different beliefs.

"If the call for commemoration is for the purpose of unification of our nation, rather than to perpetuate past conflicts, then all who lost their lives in the New Zealand Wars are deserving of respect and commemoration."

~ Ron Crosby from his 2015 book Kupapa