Parihaka
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Parihaka.jpgParihaka is a small community in Taranaki region, New Zealand, nestling half way between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea.
It has less than 100 inhabitants today, but in the 1870s was reputed to be the largest Maori village in New Zealand when it was the centre of an important civil rights incident in the country's history.
It was there that the Maori Prophet, Te Whiti o Rongomai, became involved in resistance to the confiscation of Maori land by the New Zealand Government. Open warfare had proved unavailing so Te Whiti developed a doctrine of passive resistance such as the removal of survey pegs and the ploughing up of access roads. This put the government in a quandary. It could not use the justice system to stop the Maori obstruction because seizure of the land had itself been illegal.
On November 5, 1881 peaceful Parihaka was invaded by 1600 armed constabulary. Some 1600 men, women and children were expelled from the settlement, crops were burned and homes destroyed. Te Whiti and many of his supporters were arrested and held without trial for long periods, some up to 18 years. Many were driven off their lands and out of the area, never to return. The Prime Minister's attempts to defend the government's actions provoked a constitutional crisis. In all, the government illegally confiscated or alienated 7,770 km² (1.92 million acres) of Maori land in Taranaki, and some reparations were made to the tribes in the mid-20th century.
Several Taranaki tribes were affected by the Parihaka incident. Between 2001 and 2006, the New Zealand government provided redress and a formal apology to four of those tribes, Ngati Ruanui, Ngati Tama, Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi and Ngati Mutunga, for a range of historical issues including Parihaka. Tens of millions of New Zealand dollars was provided as redress to the tribes in recognition of their losses at Parihaka and the confiscations. Most of the confiscated land is now privately owned, and worth considerably more.
Although there were more violent incidents during the New Zealand land wars, the memory of Parihaka is still invoked as a symbol of colonial aggression against the Maori People, having a similar resonance in New Zealand to the Wounded Knee Massacre in the United States.
In 1989 musicians Tim Finn and Herbs released the song Parihaka about the incident.