Waitangi Day commemorations got under way in earnest on Wednesday as more than 700 people gathered on an isolated hilltop south of Kawakawa to remember the victims of a battle 175 years ago. The dedication of a memorial at Ruapekapeka to 12 British soldiers, whose unmarked grave was rediscovered in 2017, was Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's first official engagement of a four-day stay in Northland.
![Te Kauri McPherson leads warriors of Te Tira Taua to the site of the British encampment. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EBSU3DJZB2FZTAJIGBQWQNBJNU.jpg?auth=431f763ba8eb8c155c25d76c07c2c231cb0cba3b21658be425b2415d7a975278&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)
![Joey Rapana waits to blow a signal on a conch shell. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/SWGY75VDCNWFF2Q7ZDDQSD7YV4.jpg?auth=1d64e83e1b79c725e4392da986533deb2159ff1793945850d66f0ecbe891c624&width=16&height=18&quality=70&smart=true)
![Ten-year-old Nio Rapana waves New Zealand's first flag as warriors of mass haka group Te Tira Taua march from Ruapekapeka Pā. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/3OTJGQBA4B2XMZ33DM7XTSKWVQ.jpg?auth=6681ce63f8d17e4472156f028f6081078b456ab85b8eb3b759327ccf94aa34e4&width=16&height=25&quality=70&smart=true)
![Members of the New Zealand Wars Re-enactment Society stand to attention in British uniforms of the 1840s. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/QFXN3SDVZU4YESE6EKZ3HPQAQE.jpg?auth=f67ad3e25cf586c87e73e0cfcfbc4a2f6ef9f619c113913c623e14e075fe9cf0&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)