Rangiriri and Te Whereo’s Redoubt complete the triumvirate of historical sites with Rangiriri Paa, next to the Waikato Expressway off-ramp. In Rangiriri, visit the historic pub, which has long been a popular stop, and the historic cemetery where government soldiers killed at Rangiriri Paa were buried. Māori dead were also buried there in a mass grave, but the bodies were removed in the 1920s. The signage at the cemetery provides further details on the battle.
If you go up Rangiriri Road from the cemetery, you will see Talbot St, at the end of which is Te Wheoro’s Redoubt. This is another high point with a redoubt named for a Ngāti Naho chief, Te Wheoro. Not all Waikato Māori supported Kīngitanga or war with the government. Te Wheoro actively allied with the government but also tried to act as a diplomatic interlocutor between the parties to bring about a peaceful settlement. In the late 1860s, he twice occupied the redoubt to deter any further conflict from breaking out.
But as time went on, he became a fierce critic of government confiscations and a general policy of favouritism towards those Māori who were predisposed to sell their land. In 1879, Te Wheoro was elected to parliament, where he continued to oppose government land policies.
