Remembering Parihaka

A colleague, John Hunt, reminded me this week that the 5th November is the anniversary of the invasion of the peaceful settlement of Parihaka in 1881 and the subsequent arrest of Te Whiti, Tohu and many others, and their incarceration in the South Island without trial, so that their land could be given to settlers.
John reckoned that it was of more significance in a NZ context to remember this than Guy Fawkes… I am planning to do this on Sunday with the whole focus on what happened at Parihaka. In light of recent events in NZ it kind of fits that we think about things from another angle… and Te Whiti’s non-violent passive resistance stands out as model for us all as to the way we might live the gospel… apparently Ghandi knew of Te Whiti and his way.

[the painting is by Seraphine Pick of Dunedin]

Here’s a poem…

THERE WAS A MAN

There was a man
preached peace
to warrior chiefs.

He built a pa
at Parihaka.
Soldiers burned it down

robbed the people
of their land
and livelihood.

He preached
to them as well.
They would not listen.

Our history
would be different
if they had.

How much longer
must we reap
their bitter harvest?

J C Sturm
[thought to be the first Maori woman to receive a university degree in 1949]