Life at Parihaka
Parihaka was known as a ‘place of rest’. Civilised and quiet until the Maori people were faced with brutality on the 5 November 1881, when government forces and volunteers attacked the settlement.
When Pakeha, and government officials, made their advancement onto the settlement in the lead up to the invasion, the women of the village baked 500 loaves of bread for them to share and eat. The young children, at the same time, were reported to perform poi dance whilst singing traditional songs; another welcoming action. In the eyes of the people of Parihaka, their peaceful actions did not mask a threat or potential retaliation to the Pakeha, much like they thought it did.
Such actions that were undertaken by the people of Parihaka is significant as it reinforces that Maori did not want to participate in violent actions with Pakeha and did not react to provocation by the government and European settlers.
The idea of passive resistance and the notion to peacefully co-exist with Pakeha was ensued by Te Whiti and Tohu as such values were at the core of their values. Te Whiti and Tohu were known as passive-resistance leaders.
However, contrary to Maori view, Pakeha had a negative view of Parihaka due to the association with Ringatu and Pai Marire who become figures of armed rebellion through violent actions with European settlers. Ringatu ('the upraised hand') was a faith challenging Pai Marire (Hauhau faith) and was established by Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki during the mid 1860s. Along with this, Titokowaru became associated with the revival of cannibalism and the death of missionary Carl Volkner (notably the eating of his eyes) and European settlers saw Te Kooti’s massacre of Maori and Pakeha near Gisborne as a threat. They took caution with Maori of the area. The underlying idea that because Parihaka, and the prophetic movements of Te Whiti and Tohu, drew attention of Maori from around the country it was seen as the home and centre of growing opposition to European authority.
When Pakeha, and government officials, made their advancement onto the settlement in the lead up to the invasion, the women of the village baked 500 loaves of bread for them to share and eat. The young children, at the same time, were reported to perform poi dance whilst singing traditional songs; another welcoming action. In the eyes of the people of Parihaka, their peaceful actions did not mask a threat or potential retaliation to the Pakeha, much like they thought it did.
Such actions that were undertaken by the people of Parihaka is significant as it reinforces that Maori did not want to participate in violent actions with Pakeha and did not react to provocation by the government and European settlers.
The idea of passive resistance and the notion to peacefully co-exist with Pakeha was ensued by Te Whiti and Tohu as such values were at the core of their values. Te Whiti and Tohu were known as passive-resistance leaders.
However, contrary to Maori view, Pakeha had a negative view of Parihaka due to the association with Ringatu and Pai Marire who become figures of armed rebellion through violent actions with European settlers. Ringatu ('the upraised hand') was a faith challenging Pai Marire (Hauhau faith) and was established by Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki during the mid 1860s. Along with this, Titokowaru became associated with the revival of cannibalism and the death of missionary Carl Volkner (notably the eating of his eyes) and European settlers saw Te Kooti’s massacre of Maori and Pakeha near Gisborne as a threat. They took caution with Maori of the area. The underlying idea that because Parihaka, and the prophetic movements of Te Whiti and Tohu, drew attention of Maori from around the country it was seen as the home and centre of growing opposition to European authority.
Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki and the Ringatu faith
Te Kooti founded the Ringatu faith during his time in captivity on Chatham Island (Wharekauri) between 1866 and 1868. Te Kooti described, in a diary excerpt, how the voice of God spoke to him, instructing him to teach people in the February of 1867 after he fell ill with tubercular fever. On 18 June 1867, Te Kooti showed his fellow prisoners that God had chosen him when he displayed a sign: a lighted flame (phosphorus) on his hand, which did not burn his skin. Te Kooti followed traditions similar to the Jewish faith such as the day of Sabbath on Saturday. He developed these rituals when he was in the King Country, taking sanctuary with Tawhia, the Maori king in 1872. Te Kooti elected the twelfth as the sacred day where he could remember; when the covenants of the faith were revealed to him (12 May 1868), the landing of the whakarau at Whareongaonga (12 July 1868) and when Te Kooti and John Bryce, the Native Minister, met on the 12 February 1883. The significance of the twelfth day is also in reference to the 12 tribes of Israel. Te Kooti also made special mention of the firsts of January (celebrating the Passover- Kapenga) and July (celebrating the cycle of renewal), representative of the twin pillars of the religious year. The pillars of the Ringatu cyclical year included the first of June and December, known at huamata and the pure: planting and first fruits of the harvest. Te Kooti became the figure for religious resistance and gave the prisoners, which whom he was one; light to continue on in time of adversity. Te Kooti set about spreading the word of God with the intention to make them aware of ‘ever-changing circumstances’. [1]
[1] http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maori-prophetic-movements-nga-poropiti/page-3
Te Kooti founded the Ringatu faith during his time in captivity on Chatham Island (Wharekauri) between 1866 and 1868. Te Kooti described, in a diary excerpt, how the voice of God spoke to him, instructing him to teach people in the February of 1867 after he fell ill with tubercular fever. On 18 June 1867, Te Kooti showed his fellow prisoners that God had chosen him when he displayed a sign: a lighted flame (phosphorus) on his hand, which did not burn his skin. Te Kooti followed traditions similar to the Jewish faith such as the day of Sabbath on Saturday. He developed these rituals when he was in the King Country, taking sanctuary with Tawhia, the Maori king in 1872. Te Kooti elected the twelfth as the sacred day where he could remember; when the covenants of the faith were revealed to him (12 May 1868), the landing of the whakarau at Whareongaonga (12 July 1868) and when Te Kooti and John Bryce, the Native Minister, met on the 12 February 1883. The significance of the twelfth day is also in reference to the 12 tribes of Israel. Te Kooti also made special mention of the firsts of January (celebrating the Passover- Kapenga) and July (celebrating the cycle of renewal), representative of the twin pillars of the religious year. The pillars of the Ringatu cyclical year included the first of June and December, known at huamata and the pure: planting and first fruits of the harvest. Te Kooti became the figure for religious resistance and gave the prisoners, which whom he was one; light to continue on in time of adversity. Te Kooti set about spreading the word of God with the intention to make them aware of ‘ever-changing circumstances’. [1]
[1] http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maori-prophetic-movements-nga-poropiti/page-3
The Death of Carl Volkner
Carl Volkner was a German- born missionary and was in charge of the Church Missionary Society mission station at Opotiki. Due to his work, he visited Auckland several times in 1864 and word spread among Pai Marire followers that he was a government spy, in 1865. After being warned to stay away from the mission station, he returned with Thomas Grace, a missionary, on 1 March 1865. They were both taken prisoner by Pai Marire followers with Volkner later hanged from a willow tree near his church. His head was later cut off and followers who were there either smeared his blood on their faces or tasted it. Kereopa Te Rau (one of the five original disciples of Te Ua Haumene) proceeded to swallow Volkner’s eyeballs. He described the swallowing of the eyeballs; one as ‘Parliament’ and the other the ‘Queen and English law’. The actions of Pai Marire followers was an action of protest and active resistance against the spread of European religious ideas. Such actions however sparked outrage among the New Zealand government. They punished the followers by confiscating 144,000 acres (58,000 hectares) of Maori land and took Kereopa into custody. The death of Carl Volkner became significant to the cause of Europeans feeling threatened by Maori religions and their followers, especially ritualistic practices, and settlements (such as Parihaka). The threat felt by European settlers was reflected in governmental actions as they imposed harsher sentences of land confiscations and individual prison sentences. Thomas Grace was not killed.
Carl Volkner was a German- born missionary and was in charge of the Church Missionary Society mission station at Opotiki. Due to his work, he visited Auckland several times in 1864 and word spread among Pai Marire followers that he was a government spy, in 1865. After being warned to stay away from the mission station, he returned with Thomas Grace, a missionary, on 1 March 1865. They were both taken prisoner by Pai Marire followers with Volkner later hanged from a willow tree near his church. His head was later cut off and followers who were there either smeared his blood on their faces or tasted it. Kereopa Te Rau (one of the five original disciples of Te Ua Haumene) proceeded to swallow Volkner’s eyeballs. He described the swallowing of the eyeballs; one as ‘Parliament’ and the other the ‘Queen and English law’. The actions of Pai Marire followers was an action of protest and active resistance against the spread of European religious ideas. Such actions however sparked outrage among the New Zealand government. They punished the followers by confiscating 144,000 acres (58,000 hectares) of Maori land and took Kereopa into custody. The death of Carl Volkner became significant to the cause of Europeans feeling threatened by Maori religions and their followers, especially ritualistic practices, and settlements (such as Parihaka). The threat felt by European settlers was reflected in governmental actions as they imposed harsher sentences of land confiscations and individual prison sentences. Thomas Grace was not killed.
Tatarahiki- The Children of Parihaka
The Children of Tatarahiki is a New Zealand made film, which follows a group of young Taranaki children on a modern day pilgrimage to journey and revisit the site of Parihaka and to the South Island jails where Te Whiti and Tohu, among other Maori, were exiled to following the Invasion. The group of 30 children, aged from 5 to 12, is from Te Kura Kaupapa mo Tamarongo School from Opunake, a small town in South Taranaki and are all descendants of Parihaka. The two-week trip started at Parihaka and travelled down to Wellington and around the South Island. The children spent time in the prisons of their ancestors, visiting the sites where they constructed buildings, walls and roads. Supported by local iwi from the various visited places, the young children were welcomed in with traditional song and welcomes onto maraes. In an emotional setting, the young children grasp an understanding on the treatment Parihaka Maori faced and the unrelenting injustices both Tohu and Te Whiti were forced to undergo. Director Paora Joseph and filmmaker Gaylene Preston followed the group, and their parents, on this journey to uncover what life was life for the people of Parihaka and to discover the profound impact the settlement has left on the present day.
The film relays the importance of learning Maori heritage to young Maori of today and gives an insight, not only to Pakeha and Maori, but also to the international community of the past and the crimes that were committed in New Zealand history. This film is a poignant reminder of the establishment of New Zealand and how thankful modern day New Zealanders can be that they did not have to suffer like early Maori did.
To learn more about the film, click here.
The film relays the importance of learning Maori heritage to young Maori of today and gives an insight, not only to Pakeha and Maori, but also to the international community of the past and the crimes that were committed in New Zealand history. This film is a poignant reminder of the establishment of New Zealand and how thankful modern day New Zealanders can be that they did not have to suffer like early Maori did.
To learn more about the film, click here.