Mike Butler: Busting the Parihaka myth

The story of the so-called Parihaka “invasion” on November 5, 1881, on the coastal side of Mount Egmont-Taranaki, is all about colonial power and injustice was imposed on Maori peacefully resisting the confiscation of their land, right? Actually, wrong.

A new book by publisher John McLean goes beyond the self-serving oral histories that the Waitangi Tribunal relies on to tell the story as written by people who saw what happened in Taranaki in the late 19th century.