Te Rauparaha in the context of "Treaty of Waitangi"

The South Island (Māori: Te Waipounamu [tɛ wɐ.i.pɔ.ʉ.nɐ.mʉ], lit. 'the waters of Greenstone') is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand by surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south by the Foveaux Strait and Southern Ocean, and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island, constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitudes, it has an oceanic climate. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill.

Prior to European settlement, Te Waipounamu was sparsely populated by three major iwi – Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, and the historical Waitaha – with major settlements including in Kaiapoi Pā near modern-day Christchurch. During the Musket Wars expanding iwi colonised Te Tau Ihu, a region comprising parts of modern-day Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough, including Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne, Ngāti Tama, and later Ngāti Toarangatira after Te Rauparaha's wars of conquest. British settlement began with expansive and cheap land purchases early on, and settlers quickly outnumbered Māori. As a result the Wairau Affray was the only conflict of the New Zealand Wars to occur in the South Island. The island became rich and prosperous and Dunedin boomed during the 1860s Otago gold rush, which was shaped by extensive Chinese immigration. After the gold rush the "drift to the north" meant the North Island displaced the South as the most populous.

Kaiapoi Pā is a historic pā (fort) site just north of the Waimakariri River in Canterbury, New Zealand. The pā was a major centre of trade and nobility for Ngāi Tahu in the Classical Māori period.

Established around 1700, the pā was sacked in 1832 by Ngāti Toa warriors led by Te Rauparaha. Today the pā site is a memorial reserve and is significant to local iwi. The nearby town of Kaiapoi is named after the pā.

Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori iwi (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of about 9,000. The iwi is centred around Porirua, Plimmerton, Kāpiti, Blenheim and Arapaoa Island. It has four marae: Takapūwāhia and Hongoeka in Porirua City, and Whakatū and Wairau in the South Island. Ngāti Toa's governing body has the name Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira.

The iwi traces its descent from the eponymous ancestor Toarangatira. Ngāti Toa lived in the Kāwhia region of the North Island until the 1820s, when forced out by conflict with other Tainui iwi, led by Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (c. 1785 – 1860), who later became the first Māori King (r. 1858–1860). Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Koata, led by Te Rauparaha (c. 1765 – 1849), escaped south and invaded Taranaki and the Wellington regions together with three north Taranaki iwi, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Mutunga. Together they fought and conquered the people of Wellington, Ngāti Ira, who practically ceased to exist as an independent iwi.After the 1820s, the region conquered by Ngāti Toa extended from Miria-te-kakara at Rangitikei to Wellington, and across Cook Strait to Wairau and Nelson.

The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre and the Wairau Incident, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take place in the South Island. The incident was sparked when a magistrate and a representative of the New Zealand Company, who held a deed to land in the Wairau Valley in Marlborough in the north of the South Island, led a group of European settlers to attempt to arrest Ngāti Toa chiefs Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata. Fighting broke out and 22 British settlers were killed, nine after their surrender. Four Māori were killed, including Te Rongo, who was Te Rangihaeata's wife.

The incident heightened fears among settlers of an armed Māori insurrection. It created the first major challenge for Governor Robert FitzRoy, who took up his posting in New Zealand six months later. FitzRoy investigated the incident and exonerated Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, for which he was strongly criticised by settlers and the New Zealand Company. In 1944 a land claims commission investigation determined that the Wairau Valley had not been legally sold. The government was to pay compensation to the Rangitāne iwi, determined to be the original owners (until the early 1830s, when Te Rauparaha had driven them from the area).

Ngāti Rārua are a Māori tribe (iwi) of the Tainui tribal confederation.

Ngāti Rārua stem from the marriage of Rārua-ioio and Tū-pāhau and, like other Tainui tribes, had their original home in the Waikato, specifically on the west coast of the King Country region, at Kāwhia, Marokopa and Waikawau. In 1821 Ngāti Rārua moved southwards in a series of migrations (heke) led by Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa which saw the iwi relocate to Nelson and Marlborough in the upper South Island.

The South Island (official alternative name Te Waipounamu, from Māori) is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand by surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south by the Foveaux Strait and Southern Ocean, and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island, constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitudes, it has an oceanic climate. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill.

Prior to European settlement, Te Waipounamu was sparsely populated by three major iwi – Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, and the historical Waitaha – with major settlements including in Kaiapoi Pā near modern-day Christchurch. During the Musket Wars expanding iwi colonised Te Tau Ihu, a region comprising parts of modern-day Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough, including Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne, Ngāti Tama, and later Ngāti Toarangatira after Te Rauparaha's wars of conquest. British settlement began with expansive and cheap land purchases early on, and settlers quickly outnumbered Māori. As a result the Wairau Affray was the only conflict of the New Zealand Wars to occur in the South Island. The island became rich and prosperous and Dunedin boomed during the 1860s Otago gold rush, which was shaped by extensive Chinese immigration. After the gold rush the "drift to the north" meant the North Island displaced the South as the most populous.

Te Rangihaeata (c. 1780s – 18 November 1855) was a Ngāti Toa chief and a nephew of Te Rauparaha. He played a leading part in the Wairau Affray and the Hutt Valley Campaign.