Te Whiti

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 47, 21 November 1907, Page 9

Te Whiti

After life's fitful fever, Te Whiti, the noted Maori chief and c prophet ' of Parihaka, sleeps. He passed out on last Monday. He has been iriore or less prominently before the public of Mew Zealand ever since the land troubles of 1870; when he led the local native! movement for the ejection of the .white settlers, ploughed up their grass-fields, and made the prophecy that even still appeals to the big brown man's heart-r-that** the PaiceHa would be driven into the sea, and Ao-tea-roa — ~ the Eand of the Dong White Cloud— would once more revert to the Maori. Fortunately, there was no bloodshed during the several land troubles that Te Whiti headed. His powerlessness under repeated arrest made his ' anana ' pale, his followers lost much of their confidence in him, and the land troubles ceased in time. Yet, to the end, Te Whiti remained a sinister influence among the . pagan Maori of the west coast of the North Island. His passing may open to them the ' door of a better and brighter future.