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 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 6th 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.
3 comments:
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.
And that is why this out of control apartheid tribunal needs to be shut down ASAP. Enough is Enough.
The Waitangi Tribunal should be scrapped, but try getting an answer out of National as to whether they will. Not a hope, I’ve tried!
In my dreams, a new Prime Minister takes the podium at the Beehive.
They give a truly awesome patriotic speech outlining how our country has developed and the achievements of all New Zealanders. They portray a progressive and inclusive pathway for future progress (it's a very long speech) and how they intend to offer every person of all genders and races the opportunity to live the good life.
Then a cushion is borne to the podium by a young child, granddaughter of Nanaia Mahuta. There is a huge NZ flag on the back wall...and on the cushion is an old manila folder. The PM opens the folder and holds up the paper from within and tears it apart. Then they say, "Today, fellow citizens, you have witnessed the end of the divisive and fraudulent haggling over the Treaty of Waitangi. No more shall it divide us when it was made with the intent to bring us together. Please go in peace and love and let us all be simply NZ citizens. Next month we will have a referendum on whether we should consign the Treaty of Waitangi to the archives of history or determine an agreement on what it should mean to all of us."
MC
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