Parihaka

1
PARIHAKA
a Maori response to the Pakeha System
2

• Parihaka was a large village in South Taranaki,
  founded during the punitive years of mass
  confiscation and dispossession of Maori from
  their lands.

• By 1870 it had become the largest Maori village
  in the country built on hard work, enterprise and
  community responsibility

Parihaka
3

• Parihaka was established by the charismatic
  religious and secular leaders, Te
  Whiti-o-Rongomai of the Ngati Ruanui tribe and
  Tohu Kakahi
• Te Whiti had been educated at a Lutheran mission
  school
• He had kept out of the Taranaki Wars after 1864
  and advocated passive resistance by means of
  peaceful protest

4

• Te Whiti and Tohu settled at Parihaka in 1866
  with 600 followers and foundered a community
  centered on religion and peace

• Parihaka became a haven for the dispossessed
  from the length and breadth of the country. The
  leadership of Te Whiti and Tohu helped Taranaki
  people reconstruct their lives after the
  devastation and social dislocation of war
• The community grew to over 2000 people and became
  the focus of resistance to Pakeha power.

5
The Village

• Parihaka was a successful self-reliant community
• Liquor was strictly forbidden
• Large scale cultivations

- maize - potatoes

• - tobacco
• - vegetables
• Had a slaughter house, bakery, bank and prison
• Generated electricity for lighting

6
Beliefs

• A paramount issue to Maori in the 19th Century
  was that both their land and culture were being
  quickly eroded away by the influx of white
  settlers and subsequent conflicts between the two
  cultures
• Te Whiti and Tohu advocated good relationships
  and interaction between all races as long as
  Maori ownership of lands and independence
• from Pakeha domination was respected.

7
Passive Resistance

• Te Whiti and Tohu drew on ancestral as well as
  Christian teachings to offer both spiritual and
  political leadership.
• They established monthly meetings at Parihaka on
  the 18th day to which Maori and Pakeha leaders
  were invited to attend to discuss
• the injustices and strategise for the
• resistance to land grabbing and
• assimilation.

8
Resistance to Pakeha

• In 1879 the government started surveying
  confiscated land on the Waimate Plains which
  threatened Parihaka
• The resistance strategies of Te Whiti and Tohu
  aimed to place pressure on the government through
  non-violent means
• Ploughing farmers fields
• Pulling out survey pegs
• Building fences across roads

9
Pakeha Reaction

• The press turned Te Whiti into a raving religious
  fanatic who, it was said, was prepared for
  rebellion against the Queen

• Parihaka and its leaders were seen
• as a threat to the stability of the whole
• country and some within the
• government felt Te Whiti should be
• dealt with swiftly
• They wanted there to be no question as to where
  dominance over New Zealand rested

10
Invasion and Plunder

• On the morning of 5th November 1881, 1500 armed
  men were led into Parihaka by the Native
  Minister, John Bryce who described Parihaka as
  "that headquarters of fanaticism and
  disaffection".1

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• The people of Parihaka sat quietly on the marae
  while singing children greeted the army with food
• Houses were smashed, the wharenui destroyed,
  animals slaughtered, crops uprooted, women raped
  and people forcibly dispersed

12
Imprisonment and Exile

• Many were arrested including Tohu and Te Whiti
  who was charged with wickedly, maliciously, and
  seditiously contriving and intending to disturb
  the peace. 2
• Parliament passed legislation enabling the
  Government to hold the protesters indefinitely
  without trial.
• They endured 2 years of exile in
• the South Island before being returned
• to Parihaka in 1883

13

• Parihaka was rebuilt and many of those who had
  been sent away returned once more
• The ploughing campaign continued into the 1890s
  as did the imprisonment of protestors without
  trial
• Te Whiti and Tohu had returned with an increase
  rather than a decrease in their mana however they
  became divided which weakened the community

• Following the death of Tohu, on 4 February
  1907, Te Whiti is said to have mourned until
  his own death 11 months later at Parihaka on 18
  November.

14
Views on Parihaka

• The invasion of the settlement on the 5th of
  November 1881 by 1500 militia and armed members
  of the constabulary was the result of greed for
  Maori owned land and the quest for power by
  politicians and settlers
• http//www.parihaka.com/
• One of the tawdriest instances of Pakeha
  mistreatment of the Maori
• Brooking, T. (1999)

15
The Legacy of Parihaka

• Those such as Maui Pomare and Peter Buck who
  were to emerge as significant Maori figures
  later on had listened to the words of Te Whiti
  at Parihaka
• Parihaka remains a potent symbol of
  non-violent protest.
• From the 1970s the settlement grew in size and
  received many visitors, both Maori and Pakeha
• 20002001 an exhibition in Wellington brought
  together 120 years of art, poetry and songs
  about Parihaka.

16
Te Whitis Monument
Parihaka Peace Festival
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References

• Brooking, T. (1999) Milestones. Turning Points in
  New Zealand History (2nd ed.) Palmerston North
  Dunmore Press
• King, M. (2003) The Penguin History of New
  Zealand. Auckland Penguin Books
• Stenson, M. and Olssen, E. (1997) A Century of
  Change. New Zealand 1800-1900. Auckland Longman
• http//www.teara.govt.nz
• http//www.parihaka.com
• http//www.pukeariki.com/