What happened?

Maketū Wharetōtara, the son of Ruhe (a Ngāpuhi chief) is hired by settler Thomas Bull, who works on managing a farm owned by Elizabeth Robertson. Elizabeth had recently suffered the loss of her husband, and was left with two children.

The story goes that in November 1841 Maketū is provoked by Thomas Bull kicking him, the final straw in the long-term abuse Maketu endured from Bull. Maketū flung an axe into Bulls face twice, killing him in the night. Mrs Roberton by chance ended up at the scene during the attack, and Maketū killed her too. He also murdered the kids in a similar fashion, and threw one off a cliff after chasing him down. The house is then prompty burnt. Maketū eventually confesses.

At the time, it wasn’t clear that officially British law also applied to Māori, and generally it was suggested that British law only applied to British settlers. Universally, Māori had not given up sovereignty. Even so he was punished under British law, which determined that he would be hung.

The significance

The main significance of this event stems from the fact that it displayed the crowns willingness to extend its power over Māori, making them abide by British law, even though it was a relatively early stage in the development of the Crown in New Zealand.

The Maketū trial reinenfored the British control over Māori and the politics of Aotearoa. The trial also highlighted unjust treatment towards Māori - one example being the unfair circumstances, such as the lawyer defending Maketu was only given 1 hour to prepare in which he was unable to speak to Maketū. Today, Māori are speaking out, fighting against the foundations that the colonisers set all those years ago.

The hanging of Maketū Wharetōtara serves as a symbol of injustices alongside the cultural clashes resulting from the colonisation of New Zealand. Furthermore, it provides a point to look back on to get insight on the continuous fight for justice and reconciliation between Māori and Pākehā.

← Where the murder occured - Motuarohia Island in the Bay of Islands. If you would like to see images in higher quality, please go to the gallery section.

Perspectives and Analysis

From the perspective of the British, one viewpoint to assume is that Maketū's trial was an important moment in asserting British law and order in Aotearoa. His conviction and execution were seen as necessary to maintain control and demonstrate the authority of the British legal system over the Māori population.

When the trial happened, the jurors only took a few minutes to decide their verdict: Death.

We can clearly infer Chief Justice Martin displayed little sign of arguing with whether British law applied to Māori - “[T]his is also the law of England, who still reigns over the people of this land, no matter whether some are Pākehā and some are Māori.”. This quote demonstrates this, but we need to note this was not necessarily the view of everyone at the time - including the colonial office. Lord Normanby had appointed William Hobson to secure a treaty. Normanby’s instructions were clear: “The Queen, in common with Her Majesty's predecessor, disclaims for herself and Her subjects every pretension to seize on the Islands of New Zealand, or to govern them as a part of the Dominions of Great Britain unless the free intelligent consent of the natives, expressed according to their established usages, shall first be obtained.” And, of course, at the time many cheifs had not signed the treaty and did not acknowledge the Queen's authority. But none of this was disscussed.

“I think that Maketū has plagued our whakapapa since then”, "[The hanging is the] lynching of an innocent young man” - these are two statements from cousins Hinerangi Himiona and Hone Mihaka - descendants of Ruhe, who was Maketū’s father. They say they live with the intergenerational weight of what happened to Maketū. Ruhe (Maketū's father), was said to be consumed with grief. He delivered a waiata to Hone Heke in Kaikohe: “Kaore te aroha mohukihuki ana, te panga mai ki ahau, me he ahi e tahu” which translates to "Alas, this all devouring grief, that burns within me like a flame." He committed suicide in 1865. We can gather from this that the tragic events surrounding Maketū's hanging had a profound impact that lasted - the pain and trauma associated with his death has been passed down through generations.

Mihaka and his cousin, Hinerangi Himiona, think it's possible that Māketū was innocent, or at least that the case was more complex than suggested at first glance (on account of the multiple factors against Maketū). Innocent or not (and most likely not) Maketū’s death, and those of Māori after him, portrayed clearly that Māori lore (and all the customs its based on) had been replaced with the Queen’s law. Since then, that system has produced disproportionate outcomes for Māori up to the present day. Historians have analyzed Maketū’s trial in the broader context of the conflicts between Māori and European settlers during the colonization of Aotearoa. Some argue that the trial highlighted the clashes of two different legal systems, with the British imposing their laws on Maori customary practices and land rights.

← William Martin, the first chief justice of the New Zealand Supreme Court