Knowledge and understanding of NZ wars and the pathway to reconciliation
Friday, 25 October 2019
Tiri Porter remembers how moved she when she first stood on the whenua at Te Kōhia Pā.
In the pre-dawn darkness, she heard nothing but rustling trees and saw only the silhouetted shapes of people standing. It was then that emotion overwhelmed her.
She was transported back more than 150 years, to when the first shots were fired by the British against Māori staying at the pā site on March 17, 1860. It was the day that marked the beginning of the first Taranaki war.
'It felt like being there.'
Remembering what happened in Taranaki during the civil conflict, which dogged the nation between 1845-1872, a period known as the New Zealand Wars, will be front and centre from Monday.
The three-day Te Pūtake o Te Riri, He Rā Maumahara - a national initiative to mark the nation's land wars - will take place at Owae Marae in Waitara.
It will be a time to reflect specifically on the battles near Waitara in the early 1860s, but the war in Taranaki lasted 21 years, ending with the invasion of Parihaka, a settlement synonymous with peace and passive resistance.
More than 1000 people are expected at morning tea on the first day of the national commemorations. Among the faces will be Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, other Government ministers and notable national, regional and iwi leaders.
Porter will also be there, more than likely helping out behind the scenes, whereever she is needed.
**READ MORE:
* New Zealand history to be taught in schools by 2022, says PM Jacinda Ardern
* Nā Niu Tīreni - New Zealand Made**
Owae Marae is her papakāinga, a place closely linked to who she is as a Māori woman.
'It's important to feel connection to your whenua as that's your identity.'
From birth, Porter always knew she was Māori and has keen memories of her nan working on the marae (a tradition she has carried on) or hosting hui at her house, discussing land issues.
Being a student at Manukorihi Intermediate was an 'eye-opener' too, as the school was so closely connected to her hapū.
'That kind of gave us a sense of identity, that we do have a history here, that we are important here.'
But as a young girl she never felt the heaviness of that history, its connection to land loss in Waitara nor the ongoing sense of injustice felt by the elders around her. Things are different now.
She knows the story of what happened in Waitara and the legacy of hurt left behind by the loss of land and lives, in the wake of the first Taranaki war.
It's a mamae (pain) still felt today, more than 159 years later.
It's also a hurt stitched into the very fabric of Waitara itself, including the street names immortalising British military figures involved in the battles.
This year, Porter says there was a lot of 'grieving' over the passing of the Waitara Lands Act, which came into force in March, freeing up leasehold sections for sale. This land was originally illegally ripped off Te Ātiawa and its two hapū Manukorihi and Otaraua in 1865.
Unsurprisingly, land was one of the key drivers of the first Taranaki conflict.
In Dr Vincent O'Malley's 2019 book The New Zealand Wars/ Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa, he outlines how ongoing immigration from Britain and Ireland resulted in a soaring settler population, which created high demand for Māori land.
In Taranaki, the fertile grounds of Waitara appealed but O'Malley explains how Te Ātiawa rangatira Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake had made it clear it wasn't for sale.
Undeterred, Governor Thomas Gore Browne went to Taranaki in March 1859 and accepted an offer from another Te Ātiawa chief, Te Teira, to sell the land.
There was protest and disagreement about this move but by February 1860 a survey of the disputed whenua began.
In response, Te Ātiawa sent a group of kuia to pull out surveying pegs as part of a peaceful protest, but it was deemed an act of rebellion by the British and martial law was declared.
O'Malley explains how attempts by iwi to resolve the issue peacefully were rejected and British Commander Colonel Charles Gold and 400 troops marched on Waitara and the land survey began.
On March 17,1860 Gold issued a order for those staying at Te Kōhia, an L-shaped pā constructed on the site, to surrender or be fired upon.
There was no white flag so the British fired on those inside, marking the beginning of the first conflict in the region, where lives were lost on both sides.
But the casualty rate was not the only consequence.
In 1863, the lands at Taranaki were returned to Māori after the Crown admitted the original purchase had been unjust, a decision only to be obliterated two years later when the whenua was confiscated again, results of which still reverberate a century-and-a-half on.
Understanding how the actions of the past resonate today is part of the kaupapa of Te Pūtake o Te Riri.
Dr Ruakere Hond, who has played a key role regarding the organisation of the Taranaki commemorations, believes the event to be a hugely significant one for the region.
He says 50 years ago, the land war history was largely invisible to the wider public and in some cases to Māori themselves, but this has shifted in recent times.
Hond says some of the conversations had, and topics tackled, during the three-day remembrance might be uncomfortable, however sharing stories is important in order to increase an awareness of the realities of what happened.
'There are few opportunities to do that.'
**READ MORE:
* A mature nation owns its history - the good and the bad
* Legacy of Taranaki land wars still lingers 157 years on
* Second trail launched for app designed to tell Taranaki land war history**
Speaking ahead of the beginning of Te Pūtake o Te Riri, O'Malley describes the New Zealand Wars as the nation's defining conflicts.
'In many ways they were more transformative than World War I and World War II.'
But the wars fought on our soil have largely been historically dismissed by the wider populace, he says.
'As a nation we have gone out of way to forget that history really, particularly for many Pākehā.'
O'Malley says most older New Zealanders would know more about Tudor and Stuart than what has gone on in our own backyards, a period he describes as being incredibly rich and interesting, and a topic which he himself has lived and breathed in recent years.
Along with his most recent book, O'Malley released The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000 in 2016 and is the author of other books about the country's colonial history.
The Wellington-based historian has also received funding to visit schools around the country to talk on the subject of the New Zealand Wars.
He believes the national commemorations are an opportunity for a wider understanding to be gained about the history, and he thinks more resources need to be provided to ensure that happens.
Another priority O'Malley identifies is the need for better care and protection to be given to sites connected to the New Zealand Wars.
'We know just how powerful it is to know about these places and their history and stand on that whenua.'
While the introduction of New Zealand history to the primary and secondary school curriculum from 2020 delighted him, he says some adult Kiwis are lagging behind rangatahi in terms of their knowledge.
O'Malley says older New Zealanders were raised to believe the country's history was boring and that European history was much more useful to know.
But knowing the truth about our civil conflicts is key to reconciliation in our communities and the healing which still to needs to be done as a nation, he says.
It's a sentiment Porter also agrees with.
She says the commitment to learning needs to extend beyond the commemorations.
'It's up to us as Taranaki and as Waitara to continue that kōrero and to work towards that healing and reconciliation.
'In order to see changes we need to have those hard conversations.'
She believes reconciliation is possible if people work together to create a shared vision to achieve that goal.
'And the first thing is to listen.'
Timeline for first Taranaki war:
March 8, 1859
Governor Gore Browne agrees to purchase lands at Waitara from Te Teira
February 22, 1860
Martial law proclaimed in Taranaki by British in response to peaceful protest
March 17, 1860
British fire first shots Te Kōhia pā
March 28, 1860
Battle of Waireka, south west of New Plymouth
June 27, 1860
Māori defeat British Troops at Puketākauere, near Waitara
November 6, 1860
Battle at Māhoetahi, south of Waitara
January 23, 1861
Attack on No.3 Redoubt, south of Waitara
March 1861
Truce agreed at Taranaki
Source: The New Zealand Wars/Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa