Many people know the name of Gandhi and another inspired by him, Martin Luther King Jr. They’re men who have popularised the movement of non-violent resistance in today’s world and with it, they changed their nations; Gandhi in India and MLK in the United States. They demonstrated the strength of refusing to take up arms and use violence against one’s enemy. Little known outside of some circles in New Zealand is that before these men there was Te Whiti and the Maori stand at Parihaka – the story of non-violent resistance against power enforced through arms in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s a part of our national identity though it’s a story not often told in Pakeha (non-Maori) circles.

It’s understood that Te Whiti (influenced by his time with Christian missionaries) and the movement at Parihaka inspired Gandhi and helped shape his approach to conflict. What stood out about Parihaka was the refusal to use violence in an effort to resist the colonial government of the time and their desire to take land that rightfully belonged to the local Maori iwi.

In the 1860s, 20 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the government of the time had engaged in land confiscations. The confiscations were taking place as the government was exerting its authority over Maori that it deemed to be rebellious. Whilst the government argued that the confiscations were about maintaining law and order, it’s hard to see it as anything other than an opportunistic land grab for the purpose of settlement building for the influx of immigrants that were pouring in during the colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand.

In opposition to this Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi, two Maori Chiefs and spiritual leaders (prophets), established Parihaka in 1866 on land in Taranaki that had been confiscated by the government. Parihaka quickly became a large village with over 2000 people as many Maori from confiscated land converged on the place. It was well known at that time for being industrious, clean and self sufficient – a model village.

With the increase in settler numbers and the subsequent increase in the desire for farmland, the government started to push to sell the land they had confiscated in Taranaki and eventually aimed to take the land Parihaka was on by force. Te Whiti and his followers responded with some non-violent campaigns aimed at exerting their rights over the land in the area.

It became a question of mana (authority, respect, honour) and the only way the government could see to maintain its own mana and destroy Te Whiti’s was through force. To cut a long story short, on November 5th, 1881, government troops were sent in to squash Parihaka, arrest dissidents, disperse the people (many of whom were already displaced from their previous homes and lands) and take the land.

Government troops were met and blocked by 200 singing children and lines of older girls skipping. Once they got past the children they encountered over 2500 Maori sitting in the center of the village at the Marae (for those reading this not from Aotearoa New Zealand, the Marae is the heart of the village and a place I always feel reverence for in those times when I have been invited into one). Over the ensuing few weeks Te Whiti and Tohu were arrested, the people were dispersed and Parihaka was destroyed. Te Whiti’s meeting house was demolished and the timber strewn across the grounds of the Marae to desecrate it.

The soldiers destroyed the village, treasures were stolen and rape has been mentioned as well. The remarkable thing is that what would have taken a couple of days had the Maori of Parihaka taken up arms, took weeks because of the way they responded.

Te Whiti’s establishment of non-violent resistance acts as a model for how we can confront conflict, and it offers Aotearoa New Zealand a touch-point to celebrate who we are as peoples brought together without ignoring the pain of conflict that will still be very real for some who trace their history back to that time. Compensation has since been made for that tragic bit of our history, but whilst the tragedy of Parihaka needs to be remembered, in the actions of Te Whiti and the Maori who followed him at Parihaka, we have a model for our place in the world. We pride ourselves on our troops being used as peace-keepers and ‘rebuilders’ where they are deployed in international conflict. We pride ourselves in our stand against nuclear arms. We pride ourselves in our historical protection of the planet through non-violent resistance and we pride ourselves in our generous giving in the fight against poverty and injustice. Parihaka, whether we know the story or not, is part of our DNA.

November 5th, the day those troops entered to destroy Parihaka and were greeted by singing and skipping children gives us a day to celebrate peace and those who lead it, to recognise the destructive reality of armed conflict and to hold up our heroes who have shown a different way. It’s a day where we get to look internally and cheer on those who non-violently uphold justice and ‘fight’ for a better way. Where Waitangi day gives the nation a continued chance to enter into the tough dialogues that still need to take place, Parihaka Day would offer us a chance to celebrate our identity and the good of who we are. Parihaka, in the form it took in those days, may have been destroyed even though the resistance there continued for a number of years with varying reports of what Parihaka turned into, but ultimately Te Whiti’s actions on November 5th 1881 won because justice always wins in the end. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’

The establishment, on November 5th, of an official, annual commemoration day for the historical events at Parihaka and all that it stood for is something I wholeheartedly support. November 5th should become Parihaka Day.