Sealers' War

The Sealers' War, also known as the "War of the Shirt", was a conflict in southern New Zealand that started in 1810. It began following the theft, by Māori chief, of a red shirt, a knife, and several other items from the sealing vessel Sydney Cove in Otago Harbour. The war gave rise to the view, among some Europeans, that the Māori were treacherous by nature. The true cause was revealed by the discovery of the Creed manuscript in 2003, which records the views of Māori who were alive at the time of the events.

Late in 1810, Sydney Cove, an English sealing vessel, was anchored in Otago Harbour while its crew were working at Cape Saunders on the Otago Peninsula. Māori were in the habit of visiting such vessels to trade for pork and potatoes. During one such visit, a Māori chief, Te Wareripirau, according to one of Creed's informants, or Te Wahia, according to the other, stole a red shirt and a knife amongst other items. Some of the sailors attacked the chief with cutlasses. He "fled from them with his bowels protruding through the wound in the side" and died. "The Europeans fled, by ship & boats to the Molyneux" – the modern Clutha River mouth – where they attacked and killed another chief, Te Pahi. They left behind James Caddell who became one of the first Pākehā-Māori.

At Waipapa Point one of Sydney Cove's gangs landed and proceeded overland to the Mataura River mouth, where they were surprised and killed by Māori under Honegai. The Sydney Cove paused at Stewart Island before continuing its voyage. Men from Brothers, who had been in the vicinity of Otago Harbour, proceeded south late in 1810. They were seeking a passing ship to take them back to Sydney, but four of them were surprised and killed.

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