- 445

“The Parihaka people are a very curious lot and they quite puzzle me,” wrote C. W. Hursthouse to A. S. Atkinson in 1881. 1 Many observers before him and since have likewise been puzzled by the religious movement founded by Te Whiti and Tohu of Parihaka. The narrative of events associated with Te Whiti has been dealt with very thoroughly by Scott and McMaster. However the context of Te Whiti's religious thought, has strangely, hitherto received little attention. The aim of this essay is to outline briefly the main tenets and practices of the Parihaka prophets' faith, as revealed in the speeches made at the meetings on the 17th of each month at which Te Whiti was the principal orator.

During his first thirty-four years, four powerful influences shaped Te Whiti's life and left their permanent imprint upon his religious beliefs.

The first, and therefore most powerful, of these formative influences was that of the Maori community into which he was born about the year 1831. He was the son of Honi Kaakahi, a noted Ngatiawa chief, and of Rangikawa, the daughter of a Taranaki chief. 2 Te Whiti was ten years of age before the N.Z. Company settlers came to New Plymouth. During his early years he absorbed the traditions, wisdom and spiritual insights of his people. In later years, Baucke said of him that, “Concerning the lore of his people there is no one more reliable,” 3 and that, “I doubt if there be one person living of either race with [his] intimate - 446 knowledge of Maori lore, aspirations and sorrows.” 4 Indeed, Te Whiti's love for his people and their culture was to be the dominant element in his life. Parris, the government agent, in 1881 regarded Te Whiti as, “The representative of this part of New Zealand of the love of the Maori people for their ancient customs and ways of living.” 5

The second great influence on Te Whiti was that of the Christian missionaries. “No part of New Zealand was more amenable to Missionary influence than the Taranaki, Patea and Wanganui districts . . . Eagerly the converted and liberated slaves of the Waikato hastened back to their own homes to proclaim the glad news of salvation to their own people.” 6 It is said that it was from the lips of such a freed slave that Te Whiti first learned of the Christian faith. 7 When still a youth he went to the mission station of the German Lutheran, Riemenschneider, at Waimea, where he absorbed not only Christianity but also much of European civilization. 8 Baptised Eruera (Edward), 9 he became scholar, helper in the church and in the school, and manager of the flour mill. 10 He studied the Bible and came to regard it as the infallible Word of God: “If only we believe the Bible we are right,” he said. 11 He was deeply impressed by Christ's life and words. He came to revere the Sabbath, saying, “Does not the Bible say that God made everything, sun, moon and stars—and rested on the seventh day?” 12 His Christian conviction remained with him all his life.

Te Whiti was 29 when on March 17, 1860, the first shots were fired in the Maori-Pakeha War. There is no evidence that Te Whiti took part in the first four years of war. Scott 13 claims that Te Whiti signed a document, pledging Taranaki support to the Waikatos in the event of European invasion, issued in December, 1862. What is certain is that he and a Taranaki chief, Whiremu Kingi te Matakaatea, 14 rescued the ‘Lord Worsley’ passengers from hostile Maoris in 1862, 15 and that he and his people suffered in the war. 16 It seems reasonable to assume that the long years of bloodshed, the Pakeha greed for land, Pakeha duplicity, the stunning blow of the confiscations, and the apparent acquiescence of the European missionaries in all this, all combined to produce a terrible impression upon Te Whiti's mind. 17 The world he had known was in ruins; his spiritual anchors were cut loose.

- 447

Together with his brother-in-law, Tohu 18, Te Whiti turned to that which seemed to offer hope for the future—the new, indigenous Maori religion of Pai Marire. 19 Te Ua Haumene, who founded the Pai Marire faith in 1862 has often been represented as a harmless lunatic or as a half-wit. 20 But whatever truth there may be in that, it is clear that he possessed a degree of religious genius, for it was he who formulated the faith that appealed to hundreds of his compatriots in their hour of bitter spiritual need. 21 Te Whiti, too, joined the ecstatic frenzy at the niu pole (the tall pole constructed like the mast of a sailing ship and bedecked with flags around which the Pai Marire ceremonies took place) and ran to battle with warriors who exulted in their divine protection. 22 He was at the battle at Sentry Hill on April 30, 1864. Te Kahu Pukoro told Cowan in 1920: “The Pai marire religion was then new, and we were all completely under its influence and firmly believed in the teaching of Te Ua and his apostles . . . All the principal chiefs of the Taranaki country were there. Wiremu Kingi te Rangitaake was there; Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi were both there. These three chiefs did not use guns.” 23

And Te Whiti saw the movement overtaken by military and spiritual disaster by January, 1865, the last date we hear of Te Whiti's joining with Pai Marire forces. 24

Te Whiti's association with Pai Marire lasted probably about a year. But the period was not fruitless. Maori's from many formerly antagonistic tribes had united in the worship of a Good and Peaceful God, even though they had worshipped with savage rites. 25 The concept of the Christian Trinity had been made part of Maori religious thought. 26 God's love for the Maori people—were they not of the tribes of Israel?—had been confidently asserted and His ultimate vindication of them prophesied. Regular days of worship had been instituted, and a visible symbol of the Atu (God), the niu pole, adopted around which to rally. 27

But what if the Good and Peaceful God really demanded goodness, peace and mercy of His devotees? What if God had a quite different plan for His Maori people? And what if the key to this plan was to be found in the Bible, which Te Ua had scorned?

In 1866 Te Whiti retired to Parihaka. 28 In 1868 he prevented his people from joining a futile rebellion 29 led by the Ngati Ruanui fighting leader, Titokowaru. 30

In 1907 the Hawera Star gave this account of the beginnings of Te Whiti's religious movement:

‘In September, 1869, a few months after Titokowaru's rebellion had - 448 been suppressed, and when that chief had taken refuge in the hilly country of the Upper Waitara, these two chiefs [Te Whiti and Tohu] sent a message to the tribes calling a meeting at Parihaka for the 17th of the month and announcing an era of peace and successful dealing with the Pakeha. There was a large gathering, at which Te Whiti and Tohu posed as prophets, promising a restitution of the confiscated lands of the natives, which lands were to be occupied by Maoris and Europeans side by side, the latter, however, holding an inferior position. There was to be no war and no negotiation with the government of New Zealand . . . but . . . consultation between themselves, Her Majesty the Queen, and Tawhiao, the King. There were to be four stages in the march towards salvation—the raa of the Takahangi (i.e. the day of the promulgation of the prophecy); the akarama (aceldama) [i.e. the field of blood, the plot of ground Judas bought with the price of Christ's blood]; the raa of the tuupaapaku (the day of the dead); and the raa of the aranga (i.e. the resurrection.) The natives were exhorted to be peaceful and long-suffering.” 31

The Star went on to report that its informants claimed that the first raa [day or phase] had taken place in 1869 when the prophets announced their message. The second occurred during June 20-30, 1878, when Sir George Grey met Maori leaders at Waitara during his campaign as Prime Minister to come to terms with Maori leaders who had remained aloof since the Maori-Pakeha war. 32 This meeting was said to have failed because the Queen had not been present. (The historian would be more inclined to claim that the meeting failed because Maori leaders demanded the return of some of the confiscated lands.) 33 The raa of the tuupaapaku was the time when Bryce, the Minister of Native Affiairs, arrested the Parihaka prophets in November, 1881, for organising the obstruction of survey of confiscated lands. 34 The final stage was expected during the lifetime of the current generation.

Whatever the detailed interpretation put upon Te Whiti's and Tohu's utterances, it was clear that they looked forward to a period of contention between the races over land and their relative positions in the country, which would inevitably rise to a climax fraught with danger, but that God would ultimately give the victory to the meek. This scheme of things contained the kernel of Te Whiti's religious thought.

Te Whiti did not carefully systematize his theology, but the principal strands in his thinking stand out clearly. His fundamental conviction was that God was sovereign in His universe and that nothing existed or occurred but by His will. Te Whiti said in October, 1880 that all things were ordained at the beginning of the world; “Also those which were to happen in our days—namely wars and dissensions . . . We could not have altered anything however we might strive.” 35 At another time he said, - 449 “There is only one to rule things on this earth—only one,” 36 the omniscient God who “looks on at all your doings.” 37

Te Whiti's conception of God was as something like a mighty, impersonal force moving in and working itself out in history, 38 whose will could be discerned and obeyed. This was a rather different view from the very intimate, personal relationship with God preached by most nineteenth century missionaries, who made no serious attempt to understand Te Whiti's teachings. 39

But the heart of Te Whiti's creed and that which drew the people to him was his confident reaffirmation that the Maori “had not been lost sight of by the Great Ruler, who kept all things in good order.” 40 How could the dispossessed and the defeated fail to thrill to words such as these of 1881: “God has protected us and will protect the land and the people,” 41 and to the familiar promise, “You are a chosen people and none shall harm you”? 42 “The twelve tribes of Israel are amongst you. Great are you amongst people! You are as a heavy stone not to be moved.” 43 (Te Whiti once commented, “We come from the land of Canaan. Kinana was our first Hawaiki; our last Hawaiki was Rangiatea.” 44 The evil past was now behind them: “The sins of man have been paid for by the blood of man that has been spilt,” 45 but now “God is standing upon earth this day for this generation.” 46 Yes, the Maori race was dear to God.

And, further, God was a just God. “The Master will not allow the doings of great and wicked men to be accomplished. Evil cannot be upheld . . . The Master of the world will settle everything this day . . . The Pakehas have everything this day—land and people—but at the last everything shall be yours.” 47 “The wrath of God is upon the strange people, but He is supporting us, the small assembly gathered here this day.” 48 But first must come troubles. “A trouble has now come upon us,” he said in October, 1881. “We have none to assist us; but though the Almighty has permitted trouble to invade the land, fear not . . . Though the land be overrun by a multitude they shall vanish away. My heart is sad. The people are dead and the land is gone. There is no rest, no peace of mind. I have always counselled manawanui (fortitude). In time we shall overcome all difficulties.” 49 For these troubles were part of God's plan: “The hand of God stretched forth and raised up this generation.” 50 In fact “All the troubles are centred in this generation so that the future may be free of them.” 51

- 450

For ultimately God would surely overcome the Pakeha in his pride and give back to the Maori his lands and his dignity. But it was to no crude Pai Marire Day of Reckoning, with the Pakeha being swept revengefully into the sea, that Te Whiti looked forward. At his trial in 1881 he stated his ideal clearly: 52 “It is my sincere wish that no evil should come either to Pakehas or Maoris. My wish is for the whole of us to live happily on the land.” He told Baucke, 53 “What I said and wished to convey was that the two races should live side by side in peace, the Maori to learn the white man's wisdom, yet be the dominant ruler. Even as our fathers thought and expected, the white man to live among us—not we to be subservient to his immoderate greed.” And Te Whiti hoped that he himself or his followers then living would see this Day.

The land—this is what his followers wanted and why they flocked to hear Te Whiti's promises of Divine grace. “The land,” said Te Whiti in 1881, “which is dearer to us than life.” 54 'I say the land is mine.” 55 “I am the land, and all the people are my hand.” 56 His hearers drank in his words: “The place I have measured out shall remain sacred for my people . . . I tell the assembled tribes they shall not be lost.” 57

God's will was working out to benefit the Maori people. But they must be obedient to God, and the way of obedience was peace. “Only by peaceable means can God be reached,” 58 Te Whiti told the released ploughmen in May, 1881. 59 And in October, “There must be no violence of war, but glory to God and peace among men. You are a chosen people and none shall harm you. Formerly you have been advised to fight, but the weapon of today is not the weapon of former years. All fighting must cease. I fight not against man, but rather against the devil and all wickedness. Let us not use carnal weapons. You must not follow your own desires lest the sword of God fall upon you. Forbearance is the sole ark of your safety . . . God would be displeased if there were any fighting.” 60 “I say to my people in the wisdom of the newer light,” said Te Whiti on another occasion, “‘Cease strife. He who would live by the sword will die by the sword’.” 61

Peace was, then, the will of God for that generation and to disobey was to court Divine punishment. Peace was not simply a shrewd weapon in a political dispute but was the Divinely ordained highway along which the people God loved were marching to their salvation from this time of troubles and to their glorious reinstatement as the heirs of the land.

Conjoined to the demand for peaceableness was the demand for right living. “You have disowned Satan,” said Tohu. 62 The Maori was to show his superiority here and now over the Pakeha by his conduct and his high morality: the rot at the heart of much of the European way - 451 of life was rejected—the economic competitiveness and the greed, the moral laxity and the spiritual hardness of heart. But “the time is at hand when their goods will rot in their stores, their ships will rot in their harbours for lack of sailors, their merchants will wring their hands in despair when they shall see their ill-gotten gains melt away like the mists of the morn at the rising of the sun,” said Te Whiti in 1879 63 The next year he rebuked his own followers: 'You were very anxious for money in days gone by, but how did it benefit you? In no way: you spent it on drink . . . Seek, Maoris, for land; seek to buy it with the silver you have in your hands, and you will not find it.” 64

At Parihaka from 1866 onwards Te Whiti and Tohu established a community in which the virtues of old Maoridom were united with the best of European civilisation. 65 The land was farmed co-operatively; hard work and cleanliness were insisted upon; the mentally or physically handicapped were not made the butt of remarks: liquor was prohibited. (Though neither Te Whiti nor his missionary critics could eradicate drunkenness).

European schooling was rejected as leading to folly and pride, while writing was condemned as the tool of the frauds constantly perpetrated by the Pakehas upon the Maori. 66 Te Whiti and Tohu taught the children of Parihaka at their own school of learning. 67

For their followers the will and authority of Tohu and Te Whiti were both law and the inspiration to good conduct. “My eye is over all,” Te Whiti told his ploughmen in June, 1879. 68 For Te Whiti and Tohu taught that they had been raised by God to lead His people in the right way. They could discern the will and workings of God. In the Bible they could find indications of these things, His promises to the meek, and the signs of future events. “I alone can guide you all,” 69 said Te Whiti. “You must believe my teachings or you will die.” 70 “All that I say will come to pass—not because I say it, but because it was ordained from the beginning.” 71 Tohu added in 1881: “The Atua through me utters the words,” 72 and Te Whiti said, “They are not the word of Te Whiti, who lives upon roots, but of the inspiration that comes to me from above.” 73 Their followers were to repose complete trust in the prophets' teachings so that the day of salvation might speedily arrive.

Te Whiti deliberately set himself up as a Christ-figure for his followers, for many of whom the mission teachings had been discredited by the action of the Pakeha during the war. Tohu said in May, 1881: “Formerly Christ taught, but now Te Whiti does; what has been said today is in accordance with Christ's sayings.” 74 His fellow prophet - 452 added in September, “The sufferings of the prophets and the apostles were great and our time is now come.” 75 And later he went on to say, “The lions rage . . . I will go into captivity, and the lions will dwell upon the land; then there will be no more war . . . I cannot contend with such. Christ did not, but crucified for the sins of the world. He is God. I will be a god. I sacrifice myself that peace may be . . . I am here to be taken! Take me for the sins of the island. Why hesitate? . . . Though I be killed I yet shall live; though dead I shall live in the peace which will be the accomplishment of my aims. The future is mine, and little children when asked hereafter as to the author of peace, shall say—‘Te Whiti’—and I will bless them.” 76

To his followers Te Whiti stressed the importance of suffering 77 both as expiation of the sins of the people and also as obedience to God's will. And some of his followers did suffer to the point of death in prison. 78

The words on his tombstone epitomise the heart of Te Whiti's theology and work: 'He was a man who did great things in suppressing evil so that peace may reign as a means of salvation to all people on earth. His emblem, the raukura, 79 which signifies glory to God on high, peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind he bequeathed to his people, the Ati-Awa.”

Te Whiti's genius for blending the old and the new is seen most plainly in the forms of worship he developed.

His essential conservatism is revealed in his selection of the basic features of this worship—the feast, the poi and chants, and the speech-making.

Special days of worship were—and are still—held at Parihaka on the 17th of each month, 80 when large numbers of followers congregated. 81 The day remembered was the day war broke out in 1860.

Four special celebrations were held each year on March 17 (the month war broke out in 1860), June 17, September 17 (the month the prophets first announced their religious message), and November 6 (which reminded the people of the day in 1881 when the prophets were arrested by Bryce, the Minister of Native Affairs. The people still skip, as their forbears skipped to while away those tense hours when troops surrounded the village; and fire crackers are set off to simulate gunfire). 82

A feast, toward which the visitors brought contributions, would take place from about nine till ten in the morning.

- 453

This would be followed by addresses from the prophets, Te Whiti speaking first, standing in front of the stone, Te Paaraharaha. Te Whiti was a brilliant orator, delighting in Scriptural phrases and in metaphor in the best classical Maori tradition. 83 He might discuss the crises his people faced in their relations with the Pakeha, or he might exhort them to lead more upright lives. Changes of heart were known to occur through listening to his ‘sermons’. 84 And the people loved to hear the prophets foretell the future from the Biblical text. As with the Old Testament prophets he loved, Te Whiti's greatest foresights were primarily insights into the heart of man. At night the prophets often discussed matters with a smaller, more intimate group. 85

Perhaps the supreme example of Te Whiti's religious genius in the sphere of worship was the creation of the spiritual poi. Te Whiti's sermons, selections from the Old Testament, or significant events in the history of the Maori people or in the prophets' careers were chanted while the singers, hair decked with white feathers, clad in white, twirled the poi. Cowan's descriptions of these poi are justly famous. 86 The following example follows the English translation published by Scott 87 but has a slightly corrected Maori version:

- 454

During these meetings on the 17th the followers contributed financially to a fund that was to be used for the time when God restored to the Maori the authority over the land. 88 In later years the fund seems to have been used in part to benefit the people and raise their living standards. 89 Unfortunately, after Te Whiti's death, the money was embezzled. 90

Sunday was not neglected in the years towards the end of the last century. Great crowds, including many Europeans, 91 came to Parihaka Sunday by Sunday to hear poi, discussions and the bands—the drum and fife band in its naval-style uniform 92 and the brass bands. By these meetings Te Whiti seems to have been making an attempt to bring together Maori and Pakeha.

The raukura itself was the great insignia of the followers of Te Whiti. It was three white feathers from the underwing of the albatross (or, in later years, the goose), 93 the visible symbol of ‘glory to God on high, peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind,’ and possessing in itself a mystic influence for peacableness.

A good indication of the tribes which provided Te Whiti's followership is given by the 1881 Native Census figures for Parihaka:

- 455

Te Whiti's influence, then, spread across the whole of Taranaki-Wanganui, including the outposts at the Hutt, Waikanae and the Chatham Islands, and through the Kingite territories. Many of these tribes had seen a decade of conflict and lived afterwards within the confiscated area. To them Te Whiti represented a last hope of retaining their lands.

The newspapers reported that regularly anything between 2,000 and 3 or 4,000 people crowded into Parihaka for the monthly meetings during 1880-81 when Te Whiti's influence was at its height. It would seem reasonable to estimate that of the total Maori population in 1881—some 44,100—Te Whiti's followers and adherents comprised at least 10%. 94

After 1890 a coldness developed between the two prophets 95 which led to open division between their followers, 96 the tribes north of Parihaka, especially Ati-Awa to which Te Whiti was related, remaining followers of Te Whiti; while tribes south of Parihaka, especially Ngatiruanui, to which Tohu was related, followed Tohu. 97

For some years a kind of rivalry had existed between the prophets, arising from their differing personalities 98 and their respective prophetic utterances. For some months as early as 1879 Tohu had refused to speak at the monthly meetings. 99 But the final split would seem to have come after an arrest, probably in 1889, over an alleged debt. 100 Informants from north Taranaki told me that Te Whiti's relatives bailed him out, leaving Tohu in prison, giving rise to allegations that Te Whiti had not adequately put into practice his own teachings about suffering. After the division sprang up between the two prophets' followers 101 Tohu's people took to meeting, as they still do, a day later than Te Whiti's people. 102

The movement was slowly dying through the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The death of the prophets in 1907 seemed to most of the remaining followers to negate the whole movement. Personal quarrels drove out other people in the early twentieth century. 103

But two events this century would appear to have had an influence that tended to attract people back to the movements. Many Maoris opposed the 1916 Conscription Bill, 104 including Taranaki Maoris. One of Te Whiti's sayings on war seemed to fit the circumstances: “The fire was lit to attract the mutton bird and the moths flew into it.”

- 456

The second happening was the work of Sir Maui Pomare in obtaining compensation for Taranaki confiscation. This was seen as a fulfilment of Te Whiti's prophecies that a son of Waitara would pick up the crumbs of the land. 105 Fittingly, Sir Maui's tomb is decorated with the raukura.

Writing in 1930, Cowan was able to say that the Te Whiti-ites “have their monthly meetings for prayer and exhortation at Manu-korihi, on the Waitara. The followers of the late Tohu Kakahi, Te Whiti's fellow prophet, hold similar gatherings on the 17th and 18th of each month at Ketemarae, near the township of Normanby.” 106

During this century the followers largely joined the orthodox Christian churches or Ratana, 107 without necessarily entirely losing their faith in Te Whiti's and Tohu's teachings.

The religious statistics give some idea of the movement since 1926:

But statistics do not tell the whole story, since they do not indicate those who, while adhering to orthodox denominations, retain their connection with Parihaka. In 1964 about 30-40 people of all ages were still attending the monthly meetings now held at Parihaka, according to my observation. And many of those who pass on are either buried in the cemetery at Parihaka or are represented by a deputation of mourners which travels to the funeral house at Parihaka.

To a people obsessed with their grievances over land, Te Whiti preached a meaningful, hopeful Christian faith. From one point of view he may be said to have weaned the people away from Pai Marire and prepared them for membership within the orthodox denominations, or the Ratana movement. But, more importantly, Te Whiti and Tohu represented the Maori religious genius at its best making the Christian faith its own.

- 457

• Annual Reports of the N.Z. Wesleyan Home Missions and Church Extension Fund, 1882-97.
• Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives 1881, G.3.

• BAUCKE, W., 1907. Te Whiti, Article in N.Z. Herald, November 30, 1907.
• — —, 1928. Where the White Man Treads. Auckland, Wilson and Horton.

• COWAN, J., 1910. The Maoris of New Zealand. Christchurch, Whitcombe and Tombs.
• — —, 1930. The Maoris Yesterday and Today. Wellington, Whitcombe and Tombs.
• — —, 1934. Te Whiti of Taranaki. N.Z. Railways Magazine.
• — —, 1956. New Zealand Wars, Vol. II. Wellington, Government Printer.

• HOUSTON, J., 1965. Maori Life in Old Taranaki. Wellington, A. W. and A. H. Reed.

• MCMASTER, N., 1945. Te Whiti and the Parihaka Incident. Unpublished thesis.
• Maori Record. April 1907.
• MITCALFE, B., 1963. Nine New Zealanders. Christchurch, Whitcomb and Tombs.

• N.Z. Herald, 1877-1907.
• N.Z. Wesleyan, 1881.

• RICHARDS, E. C. (ed.), 1950. Diary of E. R. Chudleigh. Christchurch, Simpson and Williams.
• RUSDEN, G. W., 1895. A History of New Zealand. Melville, Mullen and Slade.
• RUTHERFORD, J., 1961. Sir George Grey. London, Cassell.

• SAUNDERS, A., 1899. History of New Zealand. London, Smith, Anthony and Seller.
• SCOTT, D., 1954. The Parihaka Story. Auckland, Southern Cross Books.
• SCHOLEFIELD, G., (ed.), 1940. A Dictionary of N.Z. Biography. Wellington, Department of Internal Affairs.
• — —, (ed.), 1960. The Richmond-Atkinson Papers. Wellington, Government Printer.
• SINCLAIR, K., 1959. A History of New Zealand. Harmondsworth, Penguin. Taranaki Herald, 1907, 1927.

• WARD, J., 1883. Wandering with the Prophets, Te Whiti and Tohu. (pamphlet).
• WINKS, Robin W., 1953. The Doctrine of Hau-Hauism. Journal of the Polynesian Society, 62:199-236.
• WILLIAMSON, W., 1922. Centenary Sketches of N.Z. Methodism. Lyttleton Times.