Yep, they generally didn't want Europeans to clear out, they just wanted to not be swamped and to keep their land. Maori society was pretty dynamic, by the way, and settled, semi-agricultural with trade links up and down the island. The arrival of muskets had totally transformed their politics, and potatoes totally transformed their economy half a century before the British colonies took off. Maori were expert with firearms by the time of the Land Wars and developed trench warfare tactics.
The arrival of the colonists did totally transform tribal production in some areas, especially in the north, developing specialised agriculture for the settler market. Certainly if there was a 'Polynesian mode of production' it was becoming integrated into the world market. It seems quite possible to me that it could have developed into capitalism even if Maori remained politically independent, but of course that doesn't mean the land grabs and imperial domination were inevitable or justified.
Mike Beggs