What happened at Parihaka

The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, 1864–72. Author: James Cowan, F.R.G.S. Image: New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

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In the decade or so after the South Taranaki Wars, the Government passed a number of laws making it difficult for Māori to access their land.

By far the most damaging was the confiscation of most of Taranaki, as a punishment to those who had ‘rebelled’ against the Government.

Look carefully at the black line of confiscation that cuts through the tribal boundaries.

Introduction

Map showing iwi boundaries and the confiscation line.

From The Taranaki Report to the Waitangi Tribunal, 1996

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South Taranaki had been far from peace.

Many kāinga and pā had been raided and many Māori leaders and warriors had been killed or were displaced.

A new movement was stirring…

Introduction

Armed Constabulary, New Plymouth (circa 1870s). William Andrews Collis

Printing-out paper print. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A95.506)

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Go, put your hands to the plough … If any come with guns and swords, be not afraid. If they smite you, smite not in return … Another will take up the good work …

Te Whiti, the Māori Prophet of Parihaka addressing the meeting - 17th (his 18th) Jan 1880(circa 1880) Unknown photographer, William Francis GordonReproduction of albumen print (taken of original sketch)Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2003-841)

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Towards the end of the South Taranaki Wars, a new passive resistance movement emerged – its headquarters were at a West Taranaki village named Parihaka.

The founders were Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, two men who based their pacifist beliefs on traditional values mixed with some Christianity. They sought to resolve land issues without physical violence, and built Parihaka and its farms on land the Government had seized but wasn’t using.

Photograph of Te Whiti’s son, Nohomairangi, his family, and his house at Parihaka. By W.A. Collis. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2008-1905)

A veto on violence

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Te Whiti and Tohu’s teachings grew influential throughout Taranaki and beyond, and by 1870 Parihaka was the largest Māori village in the country. For nearly a decade it thrived, productive and self-sufficient.

Growing popularity

Part One of Parihaka Panorama (November 1881)William Andrews CollisAlbumen print (two part panorama)Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A64.076)

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This image depicts some of the whares of Parihaka.

Growing popularity

Part Two of Parihaka Panorama (November 1881)William Andrews CollisAlbumen print (two part panorama)Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A64.092)

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In 1879, the Government decided it was time to open up nearby seized land on the Waimate Plains (West Taranaki) to British settlement. In preparation, they began to survey it.

Stuart Newell’s survey field book contains details of land features, locations of peach trees, Te Whiti's

clearing, Pungarehu village and redoubts that were present along the road he was surveying prior to the

invasion of Parihaka.

Survey Book (1880)Stuart Newall. Survey book, Collection of Puke Ariki,

New Plymouth (ARC2002-299).

Land surveying begins

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The people of Parihaka removed survey pegs and ploughed the land. Māori from far and wide travelled to help.

Government officials arrested and imprisoned the ploughmen again and again. Each time, more went out. The Government passed new laws that allowed imprisonment without trial, and soon prisons were filled with the Parihaka protestors.

Examples of Acts

1863 New Zealand Settlement ActSets up land confiscations where Māori were said to be in ‘rebellion’.

1865 Native Land ActAnyone can apply for a land title which must be heard in a land court. If the Māori doesn’t appear, title goes to a European.

Examples of Acts

1863 New Zealand Settlement ActSets up land confiscations where Māori were said to be in ‘rebellion’.

1865 Native Land ActAnyone can apply for a land title which must be heard in a land court. If the Māori doesn’t appear, title goes to a European.

Pegs, ploughs and protest

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Waimate Plains. Plan illustrating Report of Royal Commission (1880)J M Kemp. Re-drawn by F Coleman (1937). Pen, ink and watercolour on paper

Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (ARC2005-18)

Map of the Waimate Plains on the Southern side of Mt Taranaki. The map also shows the Māori settlements tucked along the bush line.

Now the Government began to push roads through the Parihaka cultivations. When the Parihaka protestors built fences across the roads, the Government’s army destroyed the fences and arrested still more people.

Pegs, ploughs and protest

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On 5 November 1881 a Government force of 1,589 Armed Constabulary and volunteers, led by Lieutenant Colonel J. M. Roberts and John Bryce invaded Parihaka.

The Taranaki Report says, ‘…reports eventually revealed … that Parihaka had been taken without resistance; that it was completely broken up; that about 1500 men, women, and children had been arrested; and that six were imprisoned, including Te Whiti and Tohu …’.

John BryceImage: Wikimedia Commons

The final invasion

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“Images of a fuller picture escaped later … images of assaults;

rape; looting; pillage; theft; the destruction of homes; the burning of crops; the forced relocation of 1556 persons without money, food, or shelter; the introduction of passes for Māori to facilitate the military’s control of movements in the area; and

the suspension of trials and other legal safeguards when it appeared that lawful convictions might not be achieved.

”From chapter 8 of the Taranaki Report to the Waitangi Tribunal, 1996

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A fuller picture emerges

The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, 1864–72. Author: James Cowan, F.R.G.S. Image: New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

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Photograph of Parihaka .View of the military camps in the background - from left to right: Fort Rolleston, Armed Constabulary Camp and Nelson Camp. The tents and other buildings of

these camps can be seen on the hills in the background. Thatched houses and fences in the foreground. William Andrews Collis. Albumen print

Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, (PHO2008-1877)

Parihaka surrounded

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The leaders of Parihaka were taken away as prisoners.

This image is a sketch by Mr. G. Sherriff, 1881. from The New Zealand Wars: A

History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, (1864–72), by James Cowan, 1956.

(NZETC)

"Most of them were powerfully built young or middle-aged men, and, judging from their appearance and calm self-possessed demeanour, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that had they been ordered by their prophet, Te Whiti, to fight instead of to surrender, they would not easily have been conquered.“

(Otago Whitness, quoted in Jane Reeves, "Exiled for a Cause”)

The trial

Tohu Kākahi After Arrest at Parihaka

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Te Whiti leaving Parihaka under arrest, 5 November, 1881.

Source: G. Sherriff, Wikimedia Commons

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The invasion marked the end of the military action in Taranaki. Māori were outnumbered. The new Pākehā Government effectively ruled most areas of the country, and through its war-time actions had shown it could use force to keep it that way.

The war’s legacy was felt for generations, and is with us today. In Taranaki and elsewhere you will find it in our law, our health, our education, our economy and more.

The War’s long legacy

It has been called

‘The Never-Ending War’

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1. The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi, accessed from www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz

2. Taranaki War 1860-2010: Te Ahi Kā Roa, Te Ahi Kātoro, exhibition notes, Puke Ariki Museum, New Plymouth.

References