Ruapekapeka is a pā 14km southeast of Kawakawa in the Northland Region of New Zealand. It is one of the largest and most complex pā in New Zealand, that was designed specifically to counter the cannons of the British forces. The earthworks can still be seen.Ruapekapeka was the site of the last battle in the Flagstaff War, between Colonial forces and the Ngāpuhi led by Hone Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti, which was the first major armed conflict between the Colonial government and the Māori.Design of Ruapekapeka PāThis war pā was named ruapekapeka because the pihareinga, or dugouts with narrow circular entrances at top, which gave access to shelters that protected the warriors from cannon fire. These ruas or caves looked like a calabash buried underground, the narrow end uppermost and could accommodate 15 to 20 warriors.Te Ruki Kawiti and his allies, including Mataroria and Motiti, designed Ruapekapeka Pā as a further development of what is now called the "gunfighter pā" design that was used at the Battle of Ohaeawai. It was constructed during 1845, in a good defensive position, in an area of no strategic value, well away from non-combatants, as a challenge to British rule. Ruapekapeka Pā improved on the plan of the pā at Ohaeawai, the site of a battle in the Flagstaff War.
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