Richard Prince, D. Holm and Mary Brooks were right to express their concern and disagreement with both the substance and expressions used by Tommy Kapai in his item (Weekend Sun 12 Oct.)
Tommy Kapai has been a good and moderating contributor over the years to Maori/Pakeha relationship issues in the BOP.
He reduces his credibility and influence when he presents NZ War battle accounts that are inaccurate and not referenced. James Cowan's 1922 two volume ' The New Zealand Wars” are still the classic account and readers wanting to become better informed should read Ch. 37 (Rangiaowhia) 38 (Orakau) and 42 (Gate Pa & Te Ranga).
The 1983 edition has an excellent introduction by Michael King which raises some revisions which he and James Belich have identified from their researches.
Cowan spoke Maori and wrote his history (1922) when he was still able to talk with both Maori and Pakeha participants in the battles and what is more took them back to battle sites to prompt their memories.
This in addition to researching official reports.
As Michael King stated Cowan was the historian who used the title 'The New Zealand Wars” rather than ' The Maori Wars” because Maori fought as both main opponents and with the British and Settler forces.
Tommy Kapai's accounts of these battles do not line up with those of Cowan.
Regrettably, Tommy's response to the Weekend Sun's invitation refers to ' my own historians not a white wordsmith”. Come on Tommy, name your own historians and why would you introduce hateful racist tones. We all know that Tommy, like all Maori in NZ today have a multi-cultural ancestry, as do all of us labelled Pakeha or European. These 'white wordsmiths” maybe part of your wakapapa too!
Finally, in his response Tommy alleged discrimination incidents in Tauranga some years ago, and without any relevance to the NZ situation that I can see, to discrimination he experienced in South Africa.
He knows that the vast majority of NZers would never condone the introduction of discriminatory policies and practices.
Emphasising the separate identity of Maori does nothing to strengthen the idea of oneness of all NZers which is what we should be aiming for.

Basil Kings, M.A.Hon.(Hist.) Ohauiti.