The Parihaka Woman

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although The Parihaka Woman is, above all else, a work of imagination, I have attempted to maintain it within an accurate historical context.

For tribal aspects and oral narrative, I am particularly grateful to Ruakere Hond (Taranaki, Ngati Ruanui me Te Ati Awa) and my friend Miriama Evans (Ngati Mutunga) who advised on the Parihaka and mana wahine aspects. Aroaro Tamati (Taranaki, Ngati Ruanui and Te Ati Awa) also read the manuscript. The main texts consulted, as far as Taranaki and Parihaka are concerned, were G.W. Rusden’s three-volume History of New Zealand, (mainly Volume 3), Chapman & Hall, 1883; and James Cowan, The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period, two volumes (mainly Volume 2), Government Printer, 1922–23. Now out of print, these texts were consulted at Wellington Central Library.

Other texts consulted from my own personal library for more specific detail were Dick Scott, Ask That Mountain, Heinemann/Southern Cross, 1975; James Belich, Paradise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders from the 1880s to the Year 2000, Penguin, 2001; Hazel Riseborough, Days of Darkness: Taranaki 1874–1884, Penguin, 2002; Danny Keenan, Wars Without End, Penguin, 2009; Rachel Buchanan, The Parihaka Album: Lest We Forget, Huia, 2009; Kelvin Day (ed.), Contested Ground: Te Whenua i Tohea — The Taranaki Wars 1860–1881, Huia, 2010; Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand, Penguin, 2003; Jane Reeves’ essay, ‘Exiled for a Cause: Maori Prisoners in Dunedin’ in Michael Reilly and Jane Thomson (eds), When the Waves Rolled In Upon Us: Essays in Nineteenth-Century Maori History by History Honours Students University of Otago 1973–93, University of Otago Press in association with History Department, University of Otago, 1999; and Bernard Gadd’s essay, ‘The Teachings of Te Whiti O Rongomai, 1831–1907’, in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 75, No. 4, 1966.

Hazel Riseborough’s text requires special mention. I agree completely with her approach, as articulated on p. 9, that ‘Archival material is a totally inadequate source from which to draw a “Maori” perspective of the Parihaka years … What he [Te Whiti] is purported to have said, and more importantly to have meant, has come to us almost exclusively through European reporters dependent on European interpreters of varying ability and persuasion.’ In her book Ms Riseborough practises what she preaches by showing admirable discipline and restraint in not offering too many instances of what Te Whiti said. When one couples this with the moving and generous offerings by Te Miringa Hohaia of waiata surrounding Te Whiti and Tohu, you realise how refined and layered Maori language is.

I also consulted some internet sites on Taranaki and on Te Whiti, Tohu Kaakahi and other real figures, notably the online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on teara.govt.nz and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s NZHistory.net.nz. I apologise in advance for any omissions in acknowledging sources.

The story of Parihaka is never-ending. I look forward to the day when a son or daughter of the kainga writes with the resources available from their elders.

All errors of fact or interpretation are my own.

Special mention must be made of Te Miringa Hohaia, Gregory O’Brien and Lara Strongman (eds), Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance, City Gallery Wellington, Victoria University Press for Parihaka Trustees, 2001 (especially the essay by Hazel Riseborough). This publication, which was the joint winner in the history section of the 2001 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, accompanied the exhibition of the same name at the City Gallery, Wellington. Held between 26 August 2000 and 22 January 2001, the exhibition was the most significant event in recent years in terms of bringing the story of Parihaka before the public gaze.

The exhibition later travelled to other galleries, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, from 26 November 2002 to 10 February 2003, where a new component, Te Iwi Herehere, Nga Mau Herehere Torangapu, was added. Put together by Bill Dacker, Te Iwi Herehere conveyed the story of the Maori political prisoners from Taranaki in Otago 1869–1982. It was supported by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Otago Settlers Museum and remains the most complete statement to date about the Otago prisoners.

Adam Gifford knocked on my door and supplied me with information on the Parihaka prisoners in Dunedin; Dick and Sue Scott read the manuscript and gave me their aroha; Bill Dacker, author of Te Mamae me te Aroha: The Pain and the Love, (1975) a history of Kai Tahu whanui of Otago, 1844–1994, took valuable time to generously assist with information that he could well have withheld for his own research and publications. Karin Meissenberg and Cath Koa checked the German reo to ensure that it conformed to the South German dialect of the period.

Grateful thanks to the University of Auckland for superlative support, and to Harriet Allan and her staff at Random House New Zealand. Harriet suggested that Anna Rogers edit the book and it has benefited from her painstaking editorial analysis.

I also record my gratitude for the funding support of the New Zealand Arts Foundation, 2009, Creative New Zealand Te Waka Toi, 2010 and the Premio Ostana (Italy), 2010.

Finally, I must acknowledge Te Haa o Ruhia and Turitumanareti, the dream swimmer. I thought you had left me forever, but you are beside me still.