Parihaka: Remembering a legacy of peaceful resistance

Parihaka Pa, circa 1900, with Mount Taranaki. Photo: Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand / Alexander Turnbull Library

Tuesday marks 143 years since the invasion of Parihaka, the once-thriving Taranaki settlement led by Māori rangatira, Te Whiti-o-Rongomai (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) and Tohu Kākahi (Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui).

This small papakāinga, now a powerful symbol of passive resistance, was the site of Aotearoa's first recorded non-violent stand against colonial violence and land confiscation.

While many across Aotearoa light fireworks for Guy Fawkes tonight, Māori communities from across the motu will be be remembering Parihaka.

In the aftermath of the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, the Crown continued its efforts to confiscate Māori land across Taranaki, pushing communities to the brink.

In response, Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi established a peaceful settlement at Parihaka in western Taranaki, guided by the principles of self-determination and non-violence.

During the 1870s, Parihaka became a beacon of hope for Māori who had been displaced, offering a haven for many, including those from Taranaki iwi Te Ātiawa.

However, by 1878, the Crown's drive to open up Taranaki land for European settlement intensified.

Although Māori leaders allowed land surveys to proceed in good faith - expecting that their own burial places, cultivations, and fishing grounds would be protected - Te Whiti and Tohu soon realised these promises were being broken.

They responded with a campaign of peaceful resistance, and directed te iwi Māori to plough settler lands, a symbolic reclamation of their rightful connection to the whenua.

The Crown's response was severe. Hundreds of ploughmen, many of them Te Ātiawa, were arrested without trial and sent to prisons across Te Wai Pounamu, including Christchurch and Dunedin, where conditions were harsh, and some faced solitary confinement.

Parliament soon passed laws like the Māori Prisoners Act, which allowed the indefinite detention of those held without trial. Shown in historical records, these prisoners endured gruelling conditions, and several died far from their whānau and whenua.

By 1880, Crown forces intensified their presence around Parihaka, and on 5 November 1881, 1600 soldiers invaded the settlement.

These soldiers were not met by force or weapons, they were met by a crowd of 2000 whānau seated calmly on the marae, and singing tamariki who offered them kai and water.

The armed troops, however, responded with force, and in the days that followed, Te Whiti and Tohu were arrested, the village was destroyed, and its people were left to bear the scars of this occupation.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, who has deep whakapapa connections to Taranaki, said that remembering Parihaka is vital for New Zealand, as it reflects "who we were as a nation and who we should be".

She describes it as a resilient nation.

"A resilient nation that has tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti who are absolutely committed to live with peace and dignity."

Ngarewa-Packer said 5 November should be a day of remembrance in Aotearoa, not Guy Fawkes.

"Sadly, a lot of our education curriculum wasn't designed off our own history.

"Today is Te Paahua o Parihaka, it was 143 years today when our tupuna stood passively against the violence of colonisation ... Parihaka lessons in passive resistance are as relevant today."

Reflecting on the teachings of Tohu and Te Whiti, Ngarewa-Packer said that aroha and peace were at the core of their movement.

"The power of peace ... that's really important to be able to remind ourselves of."

She said Parihaka could act as a guide for modern conflicts and challenges we see today as a nation.

"If we go into the differences we have with a posture of peace and aroha ... we will take a different way of communicating and connecting."

Although Ngarewa-Packer is connected to Parihaka through her whānau whakapapa and personal experiences, she takes pride in the fact that, "in spite of the hatred and the violence and the atrocities that were happening to us, we still believed in the absolute resolve of peace".

Ngarewa-Packer said the tragic events of Parihaka are important today, as they resonate with the ongoing global struggles against oppression and violence.

"One hundred and forty three years ago, we went through massive resistance to how we were treated, and we are still standing strong today, united, and speaking in peace and aroha for everyone, for our whole nation."

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