Tohu Kakahi of Parihaka

Parihaka is just a few kilometres inland from Pungarehu. From the 1860s to 1907 it was a bustling settlement and a home for up to 2000 people. It grew to have its own bakery and piped water supply and had electricity before New Plymouth.

Tohu Kakahi

Parihaka was also the centre of Maori opposition to the taking of lands by the government and European settlers. Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi were the leaders at Parihaka and this week's story is about Tohu.

Rewind to the 1880s

True or false?
1. The New Zealand Wars are over.
2. The Treaty of Waitangi is about to be signed.
3. Some settlers that fought in the Taranaki wars are happy. The Government has given them blocks of land.
4. Maori are no longer New Zealand's major crop producers and exporters.
5. More Maori people in New Zealand live in the larger towns than in small rural communities.

Heroes or villains?

While many European settlers thought it was their right to have and farm good land, many Maori wanted to hold on to their tribal lands.

Decide this in pairs or in a small group.

Rule up two columns and head up one "We want" and the other "We have". Decide how the people in each column would view those that set in place these events in New Zealand's history. Would these people be seen as heroes or villains?

1. Those who began the Maori King movement in the hope that Maori tribes could work together to keep their lands.

2. The many Maori chiefs that put a ban on the sale of any more land.

3. Those that set up the Native Land Court that looked at ways of transferring Maori land to European ownership.

4. Maori who sold land to the Government without talking to the whole tribe. (This happened in Waitara when a chief named Te Teira offered 243 hectares for sale.)

5. Governor Gore Browne who called in 3000 Imperial troops from Australia for the first of the Taranaki Wars.

6. Maori who put the town of New Plymouth under siege.

7. Governor Grey who convinced the British Government to provide extra troops  for war in Taranaki.

8. The New Zealand Government, which confiscated land and rewarded the soldiers that fought in the war, with land.

Word wise?

All these word appear in this week's story. Decide whether the best meaning is a or b and then check your answer as you read the story.

1. coronation (a) the ceremony where a King or Queen is crowned or (b) the ceremony where a leader like a Prime Minister is officially sworn in or recognized

2. pacifist (a)a strong leader who believes in direct action or (b) one who opposes war as a way of settling disputes

3. rangatira (a ) a chief or (b) a king

4. bustling place (a) a busy and energetic place or (b) a place that is overcrowded.

5. residue (a) what is left when something overflows or (b) the remainder of something after much of it or part of it has been removed

6. consecrated (a) set apart for sacred purposes or (b) made a priest

7. divine sanction (a) a thing of great beauty or (b) godlike permission

8. passive resistance (a) peaceful opposition or (b) giving up easily

9. overwhelmed (a) completely defeated or (b) feeling quite faint

10. tenets (a) people who live in a house owned by someone else or (b) opinions

Read on!

The first part of this week's story tells of an ancient prophecy received by Aotearoa's first Maori King. Read it to find the link between the two birds of knowledge and the leaders of Parihaka. 

After this read "Place of rest" to find out a little about Parihaka and the event that happened there on 5 November 1881.
Here is the story

That wasn't expected

This photo shows part of the 1500 strong force that invaded Parihaka. They were expecting a bloody battle but were welcomed into the village instead.

To find out more about this welcome you could read "Turn the other cheek" and "Silent scene stuns soldiers" in this Parihaka story. 

Draw and write some speech bubbles to match some of the soldiers in the photo above. Remember they are at Parihaka and the welcome isn't quite what they expected.

An unmarked grave

The story tells us that both leaders have graves at Parihaka and as you read the story you will see that both were great men.

Before you read on predict why Te Whiti has a memorial that all can see and why Tohu has an unmarked grave and only a few people know where it is. Share your prediction with a classmate.

Where's the evidence?

The next two parts of the story tell of Tohu's family and his early life. Find the evidence that can tell us the answers to these questions. Evidence can be found in "Tohu's background role" and "In the beginning".

1. Why did European settlers know more about Te Whiti than Tohu?

2. How do we know that Taranaki could be a dangerous place to live when Tohu was a boy?

3. How do we know the beliefs of these two leaders in 1881 had changed from those they had in 1864?

Show with a picture

Read "The albatross lands" and then sketch a scene that shows why the white feather is a symbol of peace for the people of Parihaka.

Later you could use a nail to carve your sketch into a polystyrene tray. You can make a print by rolling ink on to your carving. Place a piece of cartridge paper on top of that and roll the paper with a clean roller.

Consequences

Do this with a classmate. Parihaka people took action against the government and European settlers.

Draw up five, three centimetre wide columns, with these headings in this order. The groups, consisting of, took action, for the purpose of, consequences.

Begin in column one with the group, "Parihaka people". Decide what should go in the rest of the columns and write your statements across the chart. Do the same with the groups "settlers" and "government".

What faith

Read the next two parts of the story. "Be patient, have faith" describes what Tohu told his people to do if the soldiers came to Parihaka. "A sword in his hands" tells what did happen.

What if you were among the group of Parihaka people on the day Tohu explained what to do when the soldiers came? Remember the 1500-strong force was camped nearby and they had artillery (big cannon-like guns) to back them up.

List some questions you may have liked answered or discussed.

Be impressed

Tohu and Te Whiti were taken on a tour of the South Island in an attempt to impress them with "European developments". This was 1882 remember.

Work out a possible "development" in each of these areas and then share your ideas with a classmate. Transport, education, farming, housing or homelife, communication.

Act it out

Finish the story now and think about why the two leaders drew apart. Decide whose viewpoint is more likely - that of Parihaka historian Te Miringa Hohaia or the viewpoint of Ailsa Smith?

Compare your decision with a classmate and then prepare and act out a conversation that might have taken place between Te Whiti and Tohu as they both tried to express their point of view.

My carving

This is a fish hook or matau

We know now that Tohu Kakahi lies in an unmarked grave at Parihaka. Try designing a carving that could be a symbol of this remarkable man.

You could design it from a teardrop - roimata - the tears shed during the separation of Rangi the sky and Papa the earth. Draw the other half of this teardrop.

Teardrop or roimata

The koru is a symbol for growth, life and movement.

Koru represents new life

Use your tear drop to help you draw the koru. Draw it inside your teardrop.

Start with a teardrop again and draw a symbol now that represents Tohu and something he stood for or believed in. You could cut and mould this design in plastercine, clay or Du-kit. Du-kit is good because it bakes hard.

Fast forward to 2004

About 120 years ago Tohu Kakahi's protests were all about land and the way it was taken from his people. Land decisions way back then still affect people today.

New Plymouth District Councillors have been meeting recently to decide on the future of 179 hectares of council held leasehold land in Waitara. The council has been listening to people's submissions - opinions about what should happen to the land and why.

This land is part of the Pekapeka block and arguments over its sale led to the first of the Taranaki Wars. Like a lot of other Maori land, it was confiscated by the government after the wars. Some was eventually given as leasehold land to the Waitara Borough Council and the Taranaki Harbours Board.

Councils were reorganised in 1989 and the old Waitara Borough Council became part of the New Plymouth District Council. This new council became the owners and landlords of the land.

A person with a house on leasehold land owns their house but not their land. They lease or rent the land from the owners and are called leaseholders. In this case they have always leased their land from the council.

On 12 August 2003 the council decided to return the leasehold land to the people of Te Atiawa. The decision wasn't final and the council have been holding more hearings and listening to all sides before finally making up their mind.

The deadline for a decision is 30 March 2004 and if no decision is reached the council will keep the land.

So who thinks what?

The council has to consider two groups when they make their decision. The leaseholders are one group.
1. There are around 800 leases in Waitara.
2. About 80% of the leaseholders say they don't want the council to return the land. Many hoped to buy or freehold their land one day. A house owner whose house is on freehold land owns their house and land.

The other group is the people of Te Atiawa. They will become the new landlords if land ownership changes.
1. Conditions of rent can't change just because there are new landlords. The leaseholders existing rights are protected by law.
2. The new landlords might still offer to freehold some of the land.

In the hotseat

Last time the council voted 13-3 to return the land to Te Atiawa.  Do this in a group of four.

Print out this question along the top of a piece of paper:

"Should the council return the land to Te Atiawa?"

Now draw up three columns under the question with these headings. Plus, Minus and Interesting.

Jot down ideas to fit the columns and answer the question. The interesting column will have new ideas. Things nobody has thought of!

If you want to read more about the Pekapeka Block here's the story. There's a TreasureLink to go with it.