2024-07-14 00:00:00 Experience the drama surrounding early European settlement in Taranaki. Download the free Taranaki Wars app and explore the sites and stories of our shared past. When Māori and Pākehā encountered each other in this region cultural differences meant relationships were continually tested. The war that began in 1860 at Waitara was firstly over land but it was increasingly over whose law was to prevail in the country. It eventually swept over much of the North Island.