The New Zealand Land wars happened between 1845 and 1872. The battles happened at different times in different places, while the wars were all separate. They all started because of the same problem, the biggest problem was that they were selling lots of lands, forcing Maori to move from their homes. Pakeha was making deals with the Maori to buy land, they might trade land for guns or other items, Governor Grey was the pakeha man in charge at the time. Kind of like the prime minister, he ordered the British troops to rule Wellington.
North Island Māori saw how much land was being sold and wanted to stop or slow down the land sales. The Governor ordered troops to attack. There was a series of battles, some won by Wiremu and some won by the British troops. However, the British troops were forcing Māori to retreat and leave their land. In 1861 a truce was signed between the two sides. This meant that they agreed to stop the fighting.