Wayne Ryburn: Article 7 - Exposing History Curriculum Myths

This is the seventh of a series of eight articles exposing some of the myths about New Zealand's History, now being taught to secondary school students. 

Article 1 can be seen HERE, Article 2 HERE, Article 3 HERE, Article 4 HERE, Article 5 HERE, Article 6 HERE.

The Level 5 workbook for Year 10 students on the "Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiriti o Waitangi" was published and has been in use since 2014. The page numbers and headings in the text are referenced throughout the series of articles. 

Some aspects, especially on the Taranaki and Waikato wars, are also re-taught in greater depth in the History curriculum at Year 13.

The series of articles was written as a critique to the editor of ESA publications, Jo Crichton and the author of the text book, F J Gibson. This critique was sent in October last year - to date there has been no reply.

ARTICLE 7 - EXPOSING HISTORY CURRICULUM MYTHS 

The 6^th Myth: That the Parihaka convicts were held in a cave at Andersons Bay, Dunedin, and that many died of exposure.

Pg 46-51 and Pg 39 1881 Parihaka day

Parihaka & Te Whiti

From the late 1870s about 1,500 Maori led by Te Whiti and Tohu set up a commune in and around Parihaka on land confiscated following the land wars of 1863-4. Over several months about 400 Maori were arrested for ploughing settler land at Oakura in 1879. Up until 1880 the colonial government had done nothing about the occupation but then decided to act. A  road was built to Parihaka. 600 men of the armed constabulary broke down fences to let stock wander amongst Te Whiti’s crops. The fences were repaired at night, These repair gangs were then arrested and a standoff of sorts existed for about 18 months. In late 1881 John Bryce, Native Minister, aimed to end Te Whiti’s civil disobedience.

The constabulary began arresting the fence repair gangs - some 216 were sent to South Island prisons to await trial. Bryce, on 6th November 1881, leading 1,500 men marched under Lieutenant Colonel Roberts. They faced off 260 dancing boys and girls. Initially Te Whiti and Tohu were invited to surrender which they did. Bryce walked up and arrested Te Whiti. Some followers were arrested, others simply dispersed. There wasn’t anything to arrest them on, and Te Whiti was held under the West Coast and Peace Preservation Act 1882 which had been hastily passed by Parliament after the event. Both were released from prison in 1883. They both returned to and would rebuild Parihaka as a modern village. The” villian” of the occasion,John Bryce  Minister for Native Affairs, was influential in establishing the Native Committees Empowering Act 1882 which authorised the creation of committees to advice the Native Land Court on matters of customary rights. He also argued that there should be better protection of Maori reserved lands to ensure that enough would be available in the future as he believed that the Maori population would increase again, his view was opposite to prevailing attitudes of the period..

Of those who went to the South Island, none were held in a cave at Andersons Bay as was suggested in the text. The 3 caves were built by Maori and European convicts a decade before (1871-2). Apparently 18 Maori died of tuberculosis at the same time. Two of the three caves were quite small, only used for storage of goods. Maori men sent from Parihaka were put into Dunedin gaol (there were no women or children). Many would be employed on public works in Dunedin, in particular constructing Dunedin's Botanical Gardens.

Stuart Scott’s grandfather, Adam Scott, was warder at Dunedin gaol, and had charge of the “Parihaka Prisoners” in 1882. It was a joke in the Scott family, that Adam told the prisoners to “be back at the gaol by 6 o’clock at night or they would be locked out”. The alleged inhumane treatment of Maori from Parihaka is a myth, created by the Waitangi Tribunal.

Pg 51 Crown Apology re Ngati Mutunga.

It is interesting that reference is made to Ngati-Mutunga. Following the invasion of northern Taranaki by Waikato tribes after 1822 they, along with Ngati Tama,Te Ati Awia, and Ngati Toa, (led by Te Rauparaha )were forced to leave and move southward to the Wellington region. In 1827 Ngati Mutunga attacked Ngati Ira which resulted in large scale deaths and enslavement. Ngati Tama likewise fought Ngati Kahungunu in the Wairarapa initially defeated but later vindicated by defeating the same tribe in 1830 with a combined force including Ngati Mutunga and Te Atiawa. The region was awash with bloody revenge killings between several tribes. With the return for revenge by Ngati Kahungunu from Mahia peninsula in 1835 and their defeat of Te Atiawa, both Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga decided to leave to avoid further conflict. They engaged the British ship the “Lord Rodney” to take them to the Chatham Islands. Here they fought each other for control of the island, then combined to kill and enslave the local peace loving Moriori. About 1600 Moriori had been reduced to little over 100 by 1850. They took possession of the Chathams by using the Maori custom of invasion and conquest by slaughtering the local inhabitants. This was the last act of what could be deemed “genocide” in New Zealand. And did not, as claimed by the Waitangi Tribunal  take place at Parihaka in the 1880s.

In 1870 the Native Land Court awarded 97% of the Chathams to Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama, making Moriori subservient to these two tribes and almost landless. Ngati Mutunga eventually returned to Taranaki, and missing out on attempts to reclaim tribal land a number returned to the Chathams while others remained and allied themselves with Te Whiti at Parihaka. There is an irony in this. In the Chathams they lived off the proceeds of violent usurption of the Moriori, to turn to support peaceful resistance and pacifism preached by Te Whiti over loss of land in Taranaki.

In 2004,Dr Giselle Byrnes, in the NZ Herald, with reference to the workings of the Waitangi Tribunal over the previous decade, wrote that the Tribunals version of history focused on the present and was basically political.  She claimed the Tribunal lacked objectivity by judging the past by the standards of today. The Tribunal had a strong Maori bias emphasizing  Maori characters and stories while almost dismissive of Pakeha characters and stories. Keith Sorrenson, Michael Belgrave and Bill Oliver,all historians on the Tribunal also raised similar concerns. That the tribunals version of history was distorted  while its reports to the government were not questioned, and all were duly taken at face value. Michael Basset  also raised concerns about the Waitangi Tribunals deliberations from time to time re its reports on the Kaipara and Tauranga. Saying deliberations often went to far and were not balanced with the claim that Maori are always right while the settlers are always going to be wrong. The video sites that students view for data gathering are largely based on the historical viewpoints of the Tribunal. Consequently the Tribunals perspective of the Treaty of Waitangi, over time has increasingly become the only accepted interpretation by many people.

Wayne Ryburn, an Auckland University graduate, with a thesis on the history of the Kaipara, has been a social science teacher for nearly 50 years.