Remembering Parihaka
For Taranaki Māori, 5 November 1881 is known as ‘Te Rā o te Pāhua’ or the ‘Day of Plunder’. The invasion of Parihaka — te pāhuatanga — involved 1500 armed constabulary and volunteers led by the Native Affairs Minister, John Bryce.
Image credit: Mount Taranaki from Parihaka Peace Festival, Taranaki by victoria. Flickr. Some rights reserved: CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.
The Day of Plunder
For months leading up to the invasion, troops had surrounded the peaceful papa kāinga (home base) of Parihaka. They even set up a cannon on a nearby hill.
Image credit: NZ Armed Constabulary at Parihaka. Photographer unknown. Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref 1/1-017952-G.
While the soldiers had enough ammunition and rations to see them through a ‘bloody battle’, the reality was very different.
There was no bloody fighting. Instead, soldiers entering the village were greeted by Ngā Tātarakihi (the ‘Cicadas of Parihaka’) singing and women offering them fresh loaves of bread.
The white feathers in the children’s hair are known as the ‘raukura’. They are a dominant and lasting symbol of Parihaka’s passive resistance movement. Image credit: Children from Parihaka with Taare Waitara, Parihaka Pa. William Andrews Collis. Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref 1/1-006430-G.
What happened?
It made no difference.
Following the invasion of Parihaka, its leaders, Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, were arrested and imprisoned without trial. Sixteen hundred followers were expelled, while buildings and crops were plundered and destroyed by the Pākehā troops.
In 1903, journalist William Baucke met Te Whiti and wrote down his thoughts on the events that led up to the sacking of Parihaka. Te Whiti told him:
‘The white man in his covetousness ordered me to move on instead of removing himself from my presence. I resisted; I resist to this day’… suddenly he (Te Whiti) pointed to the mountain. ‘Ask that mountain,’ he said, ‘Taranaki saw it all!’
— ‘Ask that Mountain: The Story of Parihaka’ by Dick Scott. Raupo, 2008, p.186–187.
Reconciliation
In 2017, over 100 years later, the Crown was again met with Ngā Tātarakihi and food baskets at Parihaka. This time the circumstances were very different.
The Crown was there to deliver te whakapāha — a formal apology for its actions over Parihaka.
Hundreds attended He Puanga Haeata — the reconciliation ceremony. Some openly wept as Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson delivered the Government apology.
‘That is why the Crown comes today offering an apology to the people of Parihaka for actions that were committed in its name almost 140 years ago.’
‘… Parihaka has waited a long time for this day,’ Finlayson also added.
Te Pire Haeata ki Parihaka (Parihaka Reconciliation Bill)
The Crown acknowledges that it utterly failed to recognise or respect the vision of self-determination and partnership that Parihaka represented. The Crown responded to peace with tyranny, to unity with division, and to autonomy with oppression.
On 24 October 2019, the apology or Te Pire Haeata ki Parihaka (Parihaka Reconciliation Bill) was finally passed into law.
Kōrero, waiata, and tears — it was an extraordinarily emotional day for politicians and the 100 or so people who had travelled from Parihaka to Parliament to witness the occasion.
Next steps
The Reconciliation Bill also included:
the establishment of a Parihaka–Crown Leaders’ Forum
Te Huanga o Rongo — healing and reconciliation assistance
the setting up of a Parihaka fund
protection of the name 'Parihaka' from commercial use.
At Parliament for the Bill’s final reading, Puna Wano-Bryant (Parihaka’s Papakainga Trust chair) also noted that the teaching of Aotearoa New Zealand history in all our schools was an important next step.
We want our children to not only talk about the facts of history but also about the pain and injury that has caused and that how we move forward as a nation together — Māori and Pākehā.
Resources about Parihaka
Interested in the full story of Parihaka, why it was invaded, and the passive resistance campaign?
Explore these National Library resources for students (and others):
Watch a recorded presentation from National Library's E oho! Waitangi 2021 event series (or read the transcript): Parihaka: Remembering November 5, 1881.
Read more
Parihaka — Te Kāhui o Taranaki — iwi website.
Parihaka — Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Taranaki — iwi website.
How NZ’s colonial government misused laws to crush non-violent dissent at Parihaka — The University of Waikato.
Invasion of pacifist settlement at Parihaka — NZHistory.
Ngā Tātarakihi o Parihaka — instructional series from Te Kete Ipurangi.
Parihaka — Te Ara.
Parihaka Memorial — with the story of Parihaka — Manatū Taonga | Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Voices from the New Zealand Wars: The invasion of Parihaka — Newsroom.
This blog post
This blog post was first published in 2018 but has been updated regularly with new resources and information.
Pārihaka was an example of what was taken from Maori and whāt continues to happen when burocurecy interferes with the tangata whenua of a Nation! Over and over they take, what the want and kill if the people won't give up what belo gs too them! War for the hell of it!!