15 The Prophetic Movements
The British Secretary of State warned against the consequences of confiscating Maori land (Waikato 1, 202, 172 acres, Taranaki 1, 275, 000 acres, Tauranga- Opotiki 738 000 acres). He argued from the Irish experience that Maori would turn into bandits and conduct guerilla war from the interior.
Prophet movements arose aiming to create a new synthesis whereby tribal unification would be achieved through Maori protest churches. They were anti-Pakeha and aimed to recover New Zealand for the Maori through diving assistance.
The first cult known as Papahuria which worshipped Te Atua Wera (The Red God) arose in Northland in the 1830's in response to rapid unmanagable changes brought about by musket wars, European diseases and the ascendancy of the missionaries.
The second but more aggressive cult known as Pai Marire arose in Taranaki in response to an unjust Land-war and confiscations.
The founder was Te Ua Haumene, who was missionary trained and had fought in the Taranaki War. He concluded a pan-Maori identity based on religion was needed to unify the tribes to overcome the superior numbers and firepower of the Pakeha. Te Ua's reputation as a prophet was based on the rumour that the wreck of the Lord Worsely on the Taranaki Coast was due to his influence. He also claimed visitations from the Angel Gabriel and communication with Te Atua Pai Marire (The Lord Good and Peaceful). On the second of Gabriel's visits Te Ua was asked to sacrifice his son. After breaking his legs and proceeding to deliver the coup de grace, the angel intervened. Te Ua was instructed to bathe him in water and he was miraculously healed. Gabriel then revealed to Te Ua a vision of all the tribes surrounding him. People flocked to Te Ua to worship around the Niu pole through which God transmitted messages to the people. The faithful were promised the gift of tongues, access to Pakeha knowledge, support from Gabriel and a legion of angels and immunity from bullets if the warriors went into battle chanting "Hapa Pai Marire, hau! hau!" (The Lord Good and Peaceful hau hau)
The Hauhau rebellion began on the 6th of April 1864 when 7 soldiers were killed. The head of Captain Lloyd was smoke dried and exhibited from village to village on a recruiting campaing. People flocked to the new movement so that five new prophets were appointed.
Kereopa Te Rau one of the new prophets who had lost his family in the Rangiaowhia
killing wanted utu. He blamed the missionaries, and when he got to Opotiki on
his recruiting campaign he executed the Anglican minister Sylvius Volkner as
a government spy. This killing led to the execution of the Whakatohea chief
Mokomoko and the confiscation of 173 000 acres of land.
[i]I believe this is where the story for UTU, a motion film, springs from[/i]
The third prophetic movement which arose out of the Hauhau rebellion was led by Te Kooti Rikirangi. Te Kooti was unjustly arrested during the 1866 campaign against the Hauhau on the East Coast and detained without trial on the Chatham Islands with 272 prisoners.
Te Kooti reportedly arrived at the island in an advanced stage of tuberculosis. He was spitting blood, so an isolation hut was built for him. Instead of dying as expected he made a miraculous recovery. He arose, walked out of the hut and it burst into flames. He claimed his cure was effected by divine favour. A divine voice revealed to Te Kooti that his mission was to establish a new church to save the Maori people and release them from bondage. The people were likened to the Israelites in Egypt and Te Kooti's mission was to free them. He began holding services for his converts and prophesised the ark of deliverance would arrive in 6 months.
In June 1868 the schooner Rifleman arrived with provisions. Te Kooti and his followers overthrew their guards and took command of the vessel. They landed at Poverty bay on 10 July 1868 where Te Kooti avenged himself by attacking farms and settlements. He killed 33 Pakeha and 37 Maori. He took refuge in the Urewera back country from which he conducted a guerilla campaign. Te Kooti was pursued by the militia, but they could not catch him. He always seemed to have advance information of troop movements and was named "Te Whai o te Motu" (the pursuit over the island) by the Maori. Despite a defeat at Ngatapa in December 1868 Te Kooti escaped to fight in a total of 130 engagements. In 1874 he stopped fighting and took refuge in the King Country behind the Aukati (Maori boundary).
The Government left him alone and eventually pardoned him.
Te Kooti's legacy was the Ringatu Church (the Upraised Hand)
Te Kooti is also now given credit for reviving the art of the wharenui and
insitgating figurative painting in general. See Roger Neich's Painted Histories
A new prophet Te Whiti o Rongomai rose in Taranaki teaching a message of pacifism, separation of the races and passive resistance. He established the village of Parihaka on the west side of Mt Taranaki on land within the area confiscated by the Government. When the land was surveyed in 1879, the survey lines went right through Maori cultivations, and there appeared to be no provisions for reserves.
Te Whiti initiated activist tactics combined with passive resistance:
- His followers pulled out the survey pegs.
- In May 1879 they ploughed up Pakeha farms and were arrested.
- When the government built the road around the west side of the mountain and
drove it through their cultivations they erected fences and were again arrested.
The gaols bulged with 200 ploughmen and 216 fencers detained there without trial.
By 1880 the cost of the collision with Te Whiti rose to one million punds while
the land in question was worth less than 3/4s of that.
On 5 Novemeber 1881 John Bryce led the Parihaka Expeditionary force of 2500 men into the village, smased down the houses, scattered the people and arrested Te Whiti. The pahua (invasion) of Parihaka has been celebrated every year since by the adherents of Te Whiti and his partner Tohu.
Reading:
Greenwood J - The Upraised Hand
Clark P - Hauhau
Miller H - Race Conflict in New Zealand
Ross W.H - Te Kooti
Scott D - Ask that Mountain
Other reading I recommend:
Redemption Songs : A Life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki
Judith Binney
http://www.nzbooks.com/nzbooks/product.asp?sku=binney131
Mana from Heaven
Bronwyn Elsmore
Painted Histories
Roger Neich
15 The Prophetic Movements (continued)
After the turn of the turn of the century, two new prophets emerged to lead the people.
In 1904, Rua Kenana, like Moses came down from Maungapohatu claiming his divine
mission as the chosen one to follow after Te Kooti.
Geographical note - Maungapohatu is a mountain in the Urewera district.
Click
here for Department of Conservation links to the Waimana Valley Track to Maungapohatu
He preached and practised faith healing among Tuhoe and other tribes of Mataatua.
In 1906 he persuaded his people to give up their material posessions and follow him as the new messiah to Hiruharama Hou (New Jerusalem), the City of God he planned to build at Maungapohatu.
He sold 40 000 acres of land at Waimana for thirty-one thousand pounds. After
survey costs of seven thousand pounds had been paid he used the rest of the
money to build his city. The central feature was Rua's circular house known
as Hiona (Zion). It was also known as Te Whare Kawana (The House of Government)
Click
here for an image of Hiona
700 acres of land were cleared, houses built, pure water supply laid on, orchards planted and cattle brough in. Temporary prosperity was achieved.
Pakeha authorities distrusted Rua, especially when he evaded the dog-tax. They charged him with sly-grogging and gaoled him for three months.
[The Dog Tax] was an attempt to control the numerous dogs in Maori villages that were thought to be a menace to Pakeha flocks of sheep
(Walker p182)
Click here for more information about the Dog Tax War
Rua was charged with sly grogging, because at that time, it was illegal for
Maori (not Pakeha) to buy liquor for consumption at home. This was legislated
in the Sale of Liquor act. Rua decided that it was better to have his followers
drink at home, as opposed to wandering around drunk. Because the authorities
deemed him a trouble-maker, they got him on this charge instead
Click
here for information on what the Maori Prophets thought of Waipiro
At the outbreak of the 1914-1918 War, Rua expressed pro-Kaiser sentiments.
In 1916, the Government moved against Rua. They had no grounds to arrest him, except the old sly-grog charge. Three police contingents of 60 men marched to Maungapohatu. It was a replay of Parihaka.
Rua was arrested and sentenced to one year in Mt Eden for resisting arrest! The trial lasted 41 days. It bankrupted Rua and his commune.
In 1918, the mantle of prophetic leadership was taken up by Wiremu Tahupotiki Ratana when the Holy Ghost told him to repent because he was chosen to be the mangai (mouthpiece) of God.
Ratana began his mission with faith-healing. Because of his many cures he was hailed as "the miracle man!"
People flocked to Ratana to hear his teachings. Those who became his followers and signed the covenant were known as the morehu (survivors). The term morehu was a pan-Maori ideology which embraced people from all tribes.
In 1920, the prophet built his temple at Ratana Pa. The following year he went on a mission to Northland. By that time he had 19 000 followers.
In 1924, Ratana travelled to England to assert Maori rights under the Treaty of Waitangi. The New Zealand High Commissioner blocked him from gaining access to the King and the Prime Minister.
In 1932, Ratana tabled a petition in Parliament with 30 128 signatures to have the Treaty of Waitangi ratified. It was ignored for 13 years.
Ratana then turned his movement into a political force by putting up four candidates to contest the "four quarters" (Maori seats).
He made a pact with Michael Savage, leader of the Labour Prty, to align the four quarters with Labour, if he promised to look after the Maori people.
His message was delivered with four symbols : A potato (well being of the Maori), a broken watch (the damaged culture, which had no money to fix the glass), a tiki (mana of the Maori) and a huia feather (symbol of chieftanship).
The three seats of Southern, Northern and Western Maori were delivered to Labour at the 1935 election. The Eastern seat was won by a Ratana candidate from Sir Apirana Ngata in 1943. That liason with Labour was to last for forty years.
Reading:
Binney, J - Mihaia
Henderson, J.M - Ratana
Maori Independence Site page about Rua : http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/he/rua.htm