By Virginia Winder
An ancient prophecy received by Aotearoa's first Māori king, foretold the appearance of two spiritual birds of knowledge on the peak of Mount Taranaki.
Immediately before his coronation at Ngaruawahia, Potatau Wherowhero had a dream.
His descendents remember it like this: "Towards the south there is a sacred mountain; below the shadow of the mountain there is a tree with a branch and on this branch are two birds of knowledge, Mumuhau and Kereto. These birds will receive the message from on high, and they will lead the people into everlasting life."
It is believed these visions were of the pacifist leaders, Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai.
They were the two rangatira of Parihaka, a peaceful village that sits between Mt Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. This settlement was also the heart of Māori opposition to the taking of their lands by European settlers and the government.
Place of rest
On 5 November 1881, Parihaka was invaded by about 1500 armed troops. Instead of facing a violent battle, the soldiers were welcomed into the village by women doing poi dances and were offered food.
In answer, the military men broke up the village, slaughtered livestock, destroyed gardens, arrested hundreds of people and scattered many more.
Fighting Men: The Armed Constabulary at Parihaka in November 1881. Image: Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this picture.
Parihaka still stands today, a few kilometres inland from Pungarehu. But it is just a shadow of the bustling place it was from the 1860s through to 1907, when the leaders both died.
If you visit Parihaka now - and you are welcome on the 18th and 19th of each month - a powerful spiritual residue will seep into your subconscious. You can stand before the monument built over Te Whiti's grave and feel humbled.
Then you may turn to ask: "Where is Tohu buried; where is his memorial?"
A descendent of the Parihaka people will shake his or her head.
Then they will tell you, that yes, Tohu does rest in this place of peace. He is buried in a cemetery nearby, but his grave is unmarked and only a few people know where it is.
Therein lies the major difference between Tohu and Te Whiti.
Tohu's background role
"Although Tohu was the senior of the two Parihaka leaders, he spent most of his life in the background," says Lincoln University lecturer Ailsa Smith.
"Te Whiti was the orator and hence more visible, he was the one who got the attention from the government and reporters," says the historian, who has written a thesis on the leader.
When Ailsa talks of Tohu being senior to Te Whiti, she is not referring to age. While Tohu is believed to be about 10 years younger than Te Whiti, he was actually a generation ahead of him. Te Whiti's father, Hone Kakahi, was Tohu's first cousin.
Tohu's father was Te Toamai and his mother was Ngamare.
Both Tohu and Te Whiti were of combined Taranaki and Ngati Awa (Te Atiawa) descent. They also married sisters - Tohu's wife was Wairangi and Te Whiti's spouse was Hikurangi.
Tohu had five children - Te Toamai, Pukohu, Parekauri, Rangikotuku and Te Kakapi. They have no descendents alive today.
In the beginning ...
While little is known of Tohu's early life, his descendants say he was born at Puketapu on 22 January 1810. However, Waimate and Kaikaia (in the Normanby area) have also been suggested as possible birthplaces.
It's also not clear where he lived when he was young. At risk from Waikato musket raiders, he and his family either migrated to Waikanae or moved around southern Taranaki.
A smidgen more is known about his life as a young man, when Tohu was known as Hone (John) and Hemi (James, his baptismal name). It's also likely he was introduced to Christianity the same way as Te Whiti - by freed Nga Puhi slave Minarapa Rangihatuake of Taranaki, who was also a preacher.
Both Tohu and Te Whiti attended Johannes Riemenschneider's mission school at Warea. Ailsa Smith says that during the mid-1860s, Tohu and Te Whiti followed Te Ua Haumene's Pai Marire or Hauhau doctrine, and played a part in the attack on Sentry Hill, north Taranaki, in 1864.
In December 1865, Te Ua consecrated Tohu and Te Whiti to carry on his religious work. When Te Ua died in October 1866, Pai Marire also began to fade.
The albatross lands
At the end of the second Taranaki war in 1866, Tohu and Te Whiti began living at Parihaka, which was built on land confiscated by the government on 2 September 1865.
"It is said that the biblical prince of peace, Melchisedec, came to Tohu in a vision, validating his position as leader within the Parihaka movement. Tohu's descendants tell how this movement was given divine sanction by the Holy Spirit, in the form of a great albatross," writes Ailsa Smith.
As part of her thesis, Ailsa interviewed Te Reweti (Joe) Ritai, who was a descendent of both Te Whiti and Tohu. He tells the story of the giant bird:
"As the people were beginning to stir early one morning, an albatross landed on Tohu's marae at Parihaka (called ever afterwards Toroanui, the marae of the 'great albatross' - the only marae at Parihaka at the time).
"And straightway that feather was 'stuck' (piri) to them, and consoled the Atiawa people, the fathers. To the old people of the day it wasn't an actual bird; it was a repetition of the Holy Spirit coming down to Jesus in the form of a dove. Ihowa, Jehovah God, sent that bird down to leave that feather there, as a symbol of peace, to tell them that it was time to begin their tikanga, their system.
"This kaupapa, or their constitution, for their marae to work toward; it became the spearhead of their lives," Joe Ritai said.
That's how the white feathers (the raukura) have become a symbol of Parihaka's passive resistance movement.
In the beginning, Tohu and Te Whiti mostly shared the same beliefs. Together, they formed a philosophy that combined traditional Maori teachings with some Christianity.
Their struggle was to maintain their own culture and their tribal lands, without using violence against the government or European settlers.
And so the ploughing campaign began.
Tohu and Te Whiti sent wave after wave of people to obstruct the government as it prepared confiscated land for European settlement. The supporters of Parihaka removed survey pegs, ploughed the land they still considered their own, and fenced across roads that cut through their many hectares of gardens.
In 1881, the settlers pushed the government to stop the interference. On 19 October that year, a proclamation was signed by then Native Minister William Rolleston. The document gave the people of Parihaka 14 days to disperse, or the Armed Constabulary and volunteers would break up the village.
Be patient ... have faith
On 1 November, four days before the invasion of Parihaka, Tohu talked to the people:
"We have two lands now - the one both people are living on and the new one. I will not scatter you now. Our place was foretold, which is Parihaka. We cannot be overcome if we remain here, but would perish if we fled. I would sacrifice myself to the gun to save you. I am rejoiced that the strong and their hosts are coming.
"Let the Government come and bring their quarrel with them to be settled here. I will not say to them stop, but allow them to do as they choose, and will not restrain them ... Now all the sea and the land is shaken, even the fish in the sea tremble. The south wind is bringing men from all parts and the big guns are being brought ... The quarrel will not touch you, I am the victim," Tohu said.
"We shall not be given to death, God will not permit it ... I shall place no weapons in your hands. You were imprisoned for ploughing and fencing, but there is no imprisonment for what we are now doing. I will not take you away from death or from the mouth of the guns; I will thrust you into the mouth of the guns and on the point of the sword.
"I will not save you or give you any means of escape. If any warlike man among you ask me what is to be done I will not answer him ... I have no place to hide you except in this marae, and we cannot be overcome ... Those who flee from the guns will fall by them. If you are overwhelmed in this day be patient ... have faith ..."
A sword in his hands
The people did have faith, and although women were raped, and many people arrested, nobody was killed at the plunder of Parihaka.
However, in a strange twist of fate, Tohu held a sword on the day Parihaka was plundered.
"In the midst of his concern for his people at the time of the raid, Tohu did not forget (Major Gustavus) von Tempsky's sword, which (Ngati Ruanui leader) Titokowaru had given him for safekeeping," writes Ailsa Smith.
"Anticipating that the village would be searched for arms when the troops arrived, Tohu handed the sword to a kuia, and instructed her to bury it in the village midden-heap."