PAGES FROM THE PAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 December 1921, Page 9

PAGES FROM THE PAST.

• TE WHITI THE “PROPHET.” CAPTURE OF PARIHAKA. (By “Juvenis.”) Associated prominently with Taranakj’s early history was the chief Te Whiti, the Parihaka “prophet.” Previous to the year 18t>9 neither Parihaka nor Te Whiti \ s known. It is true that on the wreck of the steamer Lord Worsely, in Te Namu Bay, in ISG2, Te Whiti, then called Erueti, was mainly instrumental in saving the gold that was on board, and generally on that occasion behaved remarkably well towards the passengers and crew; but after that he became involved in the troubles when the Maoris were in a state of rebellion, and he afterwards consistently Jield aloof from the GovernIt was in March, 1869, that a large num-1 her of natives from all parts of the district assembled within the edge of the forest at the foot of Mount Egmont, between Stony River and Opunake. The clearing was about five miles inland from the beach. The natives met

for the purpose of discussing their position. They had been fighting with the Europeans for ten years, and were in a worse state by far than when they had commenced: besides, they had lost some of their most influential chiefs. Several of the leading men spoke on that occasion, but Te Whiti’s eloquence surpassed tlic speeches of the others. His address was ambiguous,, but the tenor of it was that the Maoris must retain their landUnlike other semi-barbaric people the Maori always attached value to his domain, and nearly all the inter-tribal i wars of New Zealand arose from dis- i ; pules as t<| its possession. At the meet ; ! ing referred to, Te Whiti’s object seemed to be to induce the Maoris to revert j pajtially to the customs of their anees- , tors, and to adopt others analogous to ■ yet differing from those in vogue ' amongst Europeans. They were to -eclude themselves, and by their isolation and self denial to conserve their • property and perpetuate t,heir race. The •

result of ttyat meeting was the starting of the Parihaka Maori Settlement. j ESTABLISHING A NATIVE TOWN. I Under Te Whiti’s leadership the na- , tives commenced to clear the ground, and put it into cultivation. They fenced in the land in their rough way, built j whares, and at the end of twelve ! ■ months the village began to /show its ! first stage of progress. Te Whiti also : altered the European calendar, and formed one to suit himself. He decided j there should only be one Sunday, or day •' of rest, in the month, and that that ; day be set apart for talking and feasting. He also decided that there should be two important meetings held every ; year, qne in March and the other in September—the Maoris’ “idle time,’’ between the planting and the harvest sea- ' sons —when they should invite outside | natives to congregate at Parihaka to ‘ discuss matters regarding the welfare of the Maori race. Te Whiti’s followers professed to own no sovereignty or law but their own, and for several years the Queen’s writ was not permitted to be served in the village. The first half-yearly meeting convened by Te Whiti as the loader of j this new organisation at Parihaka. was on March 17, IS7O. Great preparations i were made for entertaining the visitors, i who came from all parrs qf the district. The feasting was not the least import- * ant part of the •proceedings. The food; consisted of 2,000 kits of potatoes and • kumeras. and about the same quantity • of karaka kernals, the whole being ‘ crowned with a layer *f dried shark i and fifty dead pigsThe village of Parihaka was then | about 300 yards square, in the. centre ; of which was an open space (the. 1 “marae”) fenced in. Here the monthly I meetings w’ere held, and from some ele- j, vated ground at one end of the square, , which formed a sort of rostrum. Te . Whiti would speak for hours together. These monthly meetings—with the half- , yearly ones, when there were visitors , —attracted in time considerable attention, not only from the Maoris in other parts of the colony, but from the Europeans. The great meetings were attended by all classes, and even the “Pai- , mairire” adherents, men x of mark in the ‘ past, but whose influence was passing away, were attracted to Parihaka to ( b.ear what the prophet had to say. Thus ■ Te Whiti’s influence increased every . day.

A GREAT ORATOR. On those great days Te Whiti, clad in an old shirt with a flax mat thrown over his shoulders, would declaim from his rostrum. He seemed to despise all adjuncts of civilisation. A Maori, he maintained, should live after the manner of his ancestors. Above the medium height, ascetic in appearance, with clear cut, almost European features, he presented a most remarkable spectacle of self-possession and conscious power. His sonorous voice could be heard all through the village; now thrilling with passion, anon replete with scorn, and then plaintive in its winning entreaty. Bare-headed, with his right arm free for gesticulation, his mat falling around him like a toga, he resembled an orator of old haranguing his fellow citizens. For wealth of language and imagery, for gracefulness of action and modulation Of voice, for self-possession and command over his audience, Te Whiti certainly ranked high as an orator. He would at times revel in mysticisms and opaque imagery, occasionally interpolating quotations from the Scriptures to clinch his arguments. He, however, al- j ways made one thing clear to his audience, that it was his mission from God to retain every acre of land and every stick of timber on the West Coast cf the North Island for the benefit of the Maoris. His disinterestedness and asceticism told strongly in his favor, whilst his relationship to the leading men of the Ngatiawa and Taranaki tribes strengthened his prestige and power. Like Cincinnatus of old. Te Whiti was not above work, and except on those special days when meetings were held, he was always to be found away from the village, employed with his people either in ploughing land or otherwise cultivating the soil. AN UNEASY FEELING CREATED. The taciturn disposition of “the prophet,” as he was tjien called, in time created an uneasy feeling amongst the Europeans, whose past experience of the natives was that they were not to be trusted, aiul as Te Whiti was gradna ly attracting to Parihaka some of the most desperate characters of the Maori race, it was feared that some day a ra’d would be made on the settlers and hostilities would be renewed. The Government on more than orte occasion sent able men, well versed in the Maori c’L-• Lums and good native linguists, to Pari- ‘

haka, the object being to secure Te Whiti’s allegiance, but every advance made to the prophet was a failure. The late Mr. J. Sheehan, who was then Native Minister, and others visited him, but they could make no headway, for Te Whiti remained the same mysterious individual, not to be bought for either gold or position. With the exception of a few hundred acres at Opunake, the land between Stony River and the Waingongoro River was then virtually in the hands of the natives, for although it had been confiscated by the Government in 1864, no Ministry in power till ISV'S were courageous enough to face the difficulty by having the land surveyed and .sold to Europeans for settlement. However, in that year a start was made to survey the land, and trouble with the natives commenced. They, however, only made I a passive resistence, for Te Whiti’s ini' structions were that no fighting was to I take place, but they were to allow themselves to be made martyrs of. THE FIRST ACT OF AGGRESSION. The first aggressive act on the part ! of Te Whiti was to send men to plough up grass paddocks owned by Europeans in different parts of the district. This took place in July, 1879, at Inaha on old Mr. Hastie’s farm, and caused considerable alarm, and for a time it was j feared that another war was in spectTe Whiti extended his operations from

i Urenui, in the north of the district, to I Hawera in the south. Major Parris pro- ■ ceeded t> Parihaka and saw Te Whiti respecting the matter, and the prophet said he in no way desired hostilities, 1 but he sanctioned the ploughing up of the land, as he wished to bring the ; question of its confiscation to an issue { with the Government. He succeeded in j doing this, for the natives, believing in I the prophet’s supernatural powers, al- ' lowed themselves to be arrested and im- ' prisoned, believing that he could rescue! I them when he chose. The ploughing! • was . continued till Septembei' of that' year, when an order was issued stopping , it. but not before nearly 150 native

; were imprisoned on a charge of trespass. ’ During the Parliamentary session of ’1879 an Act was passed authorising the creating of a Royal Commiss'nn to in < 2 uire into the position of the « mfiscated ; lands, when the late Sir William Fox, ; Sir F. Dillon Bell, and Mr. O. Curtis, of Nelson, were appointed coinnussioners; j but before they had finished their work Sir F. D. Bell was appointed Agent-Gen-I eral, and the late Major Parris took his ‘place. The Government also increased i the Armed Constabulary force to eight hundred, and they set to wofk at makingj At a meeting held at Parihaka on [March 17, 1880, Te Whiti told his people I that the roads ' would never meet. II? first said, in answer to a question “Why they would not meet?” -that “the men’s hands would get tired?” but on being pressed further as to his meaning, he added that “the money to make the roads would not be forthcoming to finish them.” Finding his surmises were incorrect, he on July 13, 1880, sent men out to put up fences across the roads These men were arrested and sent to Wellington, but fresh ones were sent to take their place. and they also were taken in charge and sent after their friends. THE GOVERNMENT TAKE ACTION

This obstruction on the part of natives continued till October, 1881, when Mr. Bryce, being Native Minister, is ued a proclamation on October 19. calling upon- Te Whiti and his adherents to ' signify their acceptance of the terms laid down by the Government, as suggested by the Commissioners in their report, and to express their willingness to submit to the laws of the Queen. If the natives refused, then Te AVhiti and Tohu were told that they would be arrested for inciting the Maoris to rebellion. The colonial forces were mustered together with the volunteers from all parts of New Zealand, and on November 5, they marched to Parihaka. where the two chiefs allowed themselves to be quietly taken away by four of the men of the armed constabulary. The natives not belonging to the settlement were also compelled to return to their homes, and the whares they had occupied were destroyed.

THE “PROPHETS” SENT AWAY. Te Whiti and Tohu were sent to Wellington, where they remained for five months. They were then shipped ofl to Lyttelton Gaol, where they were handed over to the care of the late Mr. John P. Ward (uncle of Mr. Dan Hughes), who was instructed to act the part of cicerone as well as interpreter for themThe Exhibition of 1882 was being held at Christchurch, and the Parihaka chiefs v ere taken to see the wonders there. They also visited Timaru, Oamaru, and Dunedin, and were afterwards taken in the s.s. ‘Hinemoa’ to the West Coast Sounds. On June 12, they were conveyed to Nelson, where they remained till March 8, 1883, when they were brought back to Opunake. Thus, after an absence of about sixteen months, Te Whiti and Tohu were allowed to return to Parihaka, and afterwards there was little or no trouble with the natives throughout the district. Te Whiti was evidently much struck by what he beheld in his travels, and finding it was no longer o-f any use endeavoring to oppose the law or obstruct the Government, ho settled quietly down at Parihaka and tried to I elevate his people by persisting them te adapt themselves to. European habits. Most of the old raupo whares gave way to neat, weather-boarded cottages. Two large halls were built and furnished with all the civilised conveniences am! appliances, and on special occasions the J ining-tables, were laid out with the neatness of European establishments. Parihaka now has ceased to have the appearance of a Maori settlement.. Te Whiti lived till December IS. 1907; Tohu, the other “prophet,” dying on July 6 of the same year.