The Sack of Parihaka

"The ark by which we are to be saved today is stout-heartedness, and flight is death...Let us wait for the end; there is nothing else for us. Let us abide calmly upon the land...If any man thinks of his gun or his horse and goes to fetch it, he will die by it.”

- Te Whiti o Rongomai, 1st November 1881

 

Uneasy Times

• Government: Parihaka divided in 3 – A seaward and inland village for Pākeha settlement and a strip for Māori in the middle.    
   
• More than half of Parihaka would be taken.    
   
• January 1881 Bryce resigned as Native Minister – angry that government wouldn’t invade Parihaka.
    
• Scare campaign by media: Te Whiti fortifying Parihaka and preparing to invade New Plymouth.

The Trap

• British uneasy about growing racial tensions.
   
• Appointed Native friendly governor, Arthur Gordon.
   
• In mid September Gordon sailed to Fiji. 
   
• In his absence Premier Hall completed plans to invade Parihaka. 
   
• Gordon heard about this and immediately began sailing back.
   
• Two hours before he returned the government convened an urgent meeting.  
   
• Gave Parihaka 14 days to surrender or suffer “the great evil which must fall on them.” 
   
• The new Native Minister resigned and Bryce was sworn back in. 
   
• Gordon arrived and was forced to comply with the advice of his ministers or resign.

Stand off

• Bryce got the proclamation to Parihaka by October 22nd.
   
• Major Charles Stapp, commander of the Taranaki volunteers called up 33 units of volunteers from Nelson to Thames.
   
• By end October he had forces of 1674 soldiers, outnumbering Parihaka males four to one.
   
• This all happened despite a lack of any violent threats from Parihaka.

 

Invasion

“Place your trust in forbearance and peace ... let the booted feet come when they like, the land shall remain firm forever.”

- Te Whiti o Rongomai, 1st November 1881

• 5am 5th November 1881 army converged on Parihaka and surrounded it. 
     
• 7am advance party got to the main entrance – their path was blocked by lines of 200 children.
   
• When they reached marae they found 2,500 Māori sitting peacefully. 
   
• At 8am Bryce came, read the riot act and gave them 1 hour to comply. 
   
• Shortly after this troops invaded the village.

The Sack of Parihaka

• Te Whiti and Tohu were arrested.
   
• Two days later houses were ransacked.
   
• Women were raped and there was a great deal of looting and theft of taonga.
    
• 15th November soldiers began destroying whare and crops hoping to starve the remainder into submission.
   
• Te Whiti’s meeting house was destroyed.
   
• A total of 1600 Māori were evicted.
   
• Many evicted Māori faced starvation. Luckily Bryce got them all jobs...roadmaking and fencing for the sub-division of their land. – The ultimate humiliation.
     

“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, Taranaki Report to the Waitangi Tribunal, 1996.  

   FURTHER READING: http://pukeariki.com/Research/TaranakiResearchCentre/TaranakiStories/TaranakiStory/id/341/title/the-plunder-of-parihaka.aspx

 
  

 

Arrest of Te Whiti & Tohu

Trial

• Te Whiti and Tohu appeared before a magistrates court on 12th November 1881.
    

 

After four days sentenced to jail in N. Plymouth until further notice.

 

 

Titokowaru appeared before the court on 25th November, after six months in prison the 3 charges against him were dropped.

Charges Laid

• Te Whiti was charged with:

“wickedly, maliciously and seditiously contriving and intending to disturb the peace, inciting insurrections, riots, tumults, and breaches of the peace, and, to prevent by force and arms the execution of the law did wickedly declare false, wicked, seditious and inflammatory words.”  

• The 'inflammatory words' alleged were: 
• naku te whenua (the land belongs to me).

naku nga tangata (the people belong to me).

ko te tino pakanga tenei o tenei whakatupuranga (this is the main struggle of this generation).
 

Jail

• In April 1882, Te Whiti and Tohu were transferred to Addington gaol in Christchurch.
   
• In May, the Native Minister introduced the West Coast Peace Preservation Act 1882, allowed for the indefinite imprisonment of Te Whiti and Tohu and rendered their trial 'unnecessary'.
   
• It also made any group of more than 50 Maori assembling on the west coast liable to arrest and imprisonment.
   
• Also, the Indemnity Act 1882 indemnified those who, in the action taken to 'preserve the peace', might have exceeded their legal powers. 

 
  Time to check out 1.6 and have a go at it! Click Here.  (Check out Practice for 1.6 Part 1)

Release of Te Whiti & Tohu

Offers & Rejection

• Te Whiti visited by a member of Bryce’s staff – offered release, government income and land for himself if he ceased to assemble his people.
     
• He refused. The offer was made again and rejected again.
       
• Prisoners were transferred to Nelson where they received a third offer also refused.

Release

• Under pressure from Britain, Te Whiti and Tohu were released March 1883.
   
• To guard against further difficulties the Government passed the West Coast Peace Preservation Act 1882 Continuance Act 1883.
   
• The prophets remained subject to rearrest without warrant, charge, or trial.
   
• The prohibition on Māori gatherings stayed in force and no Māori could travel to or in Parihaka without a special pass.
   
• The Armed Constabulary remained stationed there.

Parihaka Rebuilt

Campaign Renewed

• August 1884 Te Whiti and Tohu began a new campaign to publicise the loss of their land.
   
• They held large protest marches across Taranaki.
• In July 1886 another campaign emerged where Māori entered Settler farms and set up thatched huts.
   
• Te Whiti was arrested twice more for various charges including accessory to forcible entry, riot and malicious injury to property.

Reconstruction 

• Parihaka was rebuilt beginning in1889.
   
• By 1896, systems of water supply and electric lighting had been introduced at a time when even the city of Wellington was without electricity.
   
• Government still viewed it with scorn, Seddon claimed Parihaka encouraged Māori to led “lazy and dissolute” lives. He vowed to destroy “this communism that now existed.”
   
• Te Whiti and Tohu both died in 1907, but the faith they established and the spirit they engendered has survived them to this day.

 
 

Consequences of Parihaka

Direct Consequences
By 1881, Māori had been defeated, largely by the advantages the European had, in terms of numbers of professional soldiers and better war technology.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wider Consequences
Historians agree that the impact of the colonial experience in Taranaki, including the invasion of Parihaka, for Māori has been severe, and that a post-war syndrome has developed.
 

• Generations of Māori were brought up to believe that there was no future in being Māori.
• There is a distinctive lack of te reo Māori speakers in Taranaki.
• Traditional knowledge of land management and genealogy are critically short.
• Many older Māori in Taranaki tell of being told not to speak Māori, and to try and become Pākehā.
    

Cultural and social impacts of the confiscation are still being felt today

Parihaka Legacy

Waitangi Tribunal

• Waitangi Tribunal Report 1996.
   
• Hailed as the most important report issued by the Tribunal.
   
• The Waitangi Tribunal stated that the claims made by Taranaki (of which the story of Parihaka was included) could be the largest in the country.
   
• The Tribunal concluded: “Taranaki Maori...were denied their rights of autonomy, and as British subjects, their civil rights were removed. For decades, they were subjected to sustained attacks on their property and persons.”

Remembering Parihaka

Memories & Legacy

• Art Exhibition 2000: Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance.  

• NZ singer Tim Finn and the Herbs created a song about Parihaka.  

• Poetry has been written by Hone Tuwhare & James K Baxter.
   
• Petition led by Tariana Turia – Parihaka Day.
   
• Parihaka International Peace Festival 2010. 

• Artworks by Colin McCahon
   

Parihaka Memorial

• These are the words on Te Whiti's memorial at Parihaka:

 "He was a man who did great deeds in suppressing evil so that peace may  

reign as a means of salvation to all people on earth."

Other Quotes

“Te Whiti was a coward, safe in the rear goading the poor bastards on. As an old soldier I don’t like it. Parihaka has been grossly over-publicized – today he would be head of the biggest advertising agency in the country. His movement was political, not religious, and it is communists and anti-European troublemakers who try to keep it alive. Parihaka should be forgotten.”



- Interview with local farmer, J.S Stronge January, 1973.

“It is not my wish that evil should come to the two races. My wish is for the whole of us to live peaceably and happily on the land”.

- Te Whiti o Rongomai