Many of our Local Geographies are part of the National History We Must Own

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One advantage of old age is a long and generally instructive memory. So long, in my case, that I've almost become a part of history, from the years when Maori were hardly seen and never heard, to today when many Maori and Paheka are speaking out for a truly inclusive New Zealand.

I can remember Mary Boyd, bless her, my masterate history lecturer in the late 1960s echoing the statement that the Treaty of Waitangi was not worth the paper it was written on, and Dick Scott's book on Parihaka on the slopes of what was then Mt Egmont (now Taranaki) of which one reviewer wrote:

Te Whiti o Rongomai

The story of Parihaka is a long and bitter one, characterised on one side by the dignity of the Maori leaders Te Whiti and Tohu and the patient determination of the many tribes associated with Parihaka; and on the other by the violent land-grabbing of the Pakeha, supported by a racist government and one-eyed courts. – Anthony Ward

My Taranaki born-and-bred former father-in-law said he'd prefer his daughter to marry a Maori “off the street” than any Pakeha, meaning me.

I can remember a young Otaki College colleague telling his students that Ngati Toa,  and not the New Zealand Company, were responsible for the deaths in the Wairau Affair (then called the Wairau Massacre) when the latter's claim to the land was, to say the least, dubious and  when they sought to forestall Land Commisssioner William Spain's enquiries by occupying the land and  presenting him with a  fait accompli.*

I can remember when Syd and Hannah Jackson and Nga Tama Toa in the early days of the “Maori Renaissance” and when grass-skirted Auckland University engineering students lampooning the haka on graduation day.

It also does not seem that long ago when RNZ broadcast only ten  minutes of  Te

Reo a week.  

Or when the  police stormed Maori at Bastion Point and none asked why Ngati Whatua had staged their months' long sit-in.  When there were police night raids on Pasifika, but no other, overstayers. And when our All Blacks engaged with the Springboks, despite their demand there be no Maori players, and the protests that followed  ....  and Eva Rickard's hekenga.

And so, to today,  when many Maori and Pakeha are calling for greater knowledge of our history.

St Albans Church, Pauatahanui

Barely five minutes drive from where I now live I can see the Anglican church where Te Rangihaeata's

pa once stood, close to “Battle Hill” where in 1846 Sir George Grey's troops broke Ngati Toa resistance to Pakeha settlement in the Hutt Valley,  andPlimmerton where his cannons covered the entrance to the eastern arm of Porirua Harbour.

 

Many of our local geographies are part of our national histories.

Owning Our History
 

This week's NZ Listener, May 25-31, has an article by Sally Blundell “Owning Our History” sub-titled “Calls are growing for us to take a more honest look at our past, particularly the wars over power and land that shaped our country.” 

She relies heavily on Wellington historian Vincent O'Malley. Here are some paraphrased extracts:

Between the Wairau Affair (until recently called the Wairau Massacre) in 1842 and the attacks on Te Kooti/Te Turuki, portrayed as “a violent rebel and a religious fanatic”, near Lake Waikaremoana in 1873, at least 6,000 people had died, and nearly 1.5 million hectares of Maori land became Pakeha land. New Zealand's “social, economic and political landscape (was) changed forever.” Yet little of this is stored in the nation's memory.

The site of the battle at Orakau, (our equivalent to America's Gettyburg) south of Hamilton, has a road running through it; and the battle ground at Gate Pa near Tauranga is accessed through Cameron Road, named after the General who destroyed it.

King Tawhiao

Rangiriri in the Waikato is where Governor Grey send 1,400 British soldiers, after a two hour artilley bombardment, to attack a pa defended by 500 Maori. The pa was taken after considreable loss of life on both sides when the Maori “white flag” raised to negotiate was taken to mean they surrendered —an important difference. Nearly 200 defenders were taken prisoners. 

King Tawhiao escaped south to a swarth of country later named the “King Country” The battle opened up the Waikato for paheka settlement and General Cameron was knighted.

General Sir Duncan Cameron

Later, State Highway 1 cut though the site but in 2009 a bypass was constructed to allow the redevelopment of the batle site.
 

Yet, says O'Sullivan. “we barely talk of (these sites or events). Commemorations are few, many of the war sites are degraded and unmarked, the myth of chivalrous and noble battle, sowing seeds for the 'best race relations in the world' has been shattered. 

"Today, students can go through school without learning any New Zealand history... which is staggering to me. 

"This is our history. It happened here, in this place, relatively recently, and it had profound consequences for what New Zealand would become. These were defining conflicts of New Zealand history and, as a nation, we need to take ownership of them.”

The History Teachers' Association petition has over 3,000 signatures. It seeks to make compulsory “the coherent teaching of our own past across appropriate year levels in our school” but —to date—our government that talks so much about an “inclusive” New Zealand, has not been supportive. 

Education Minister Chris Hipkins acknowledges some schools could do more to teach about the New Zealand wars (once called the Maori wars) but he does not favour making it compulsory. 

So, most students soon to be adults, will continue to be ignorant about the wars — and everything else in our history.

O'Malley, however, is optimistic. He thinks we have now “turned the corner” as a nation, and more people are wanting greater engagement with out history. 

“Making sure our kids learn this history and looking after these (battle sites) is not going to bankrupt the nation … now more than ever we need to know this history and be honest with ourselves.”

* I wrote about the Wairau Affair in the PPTA Journal in February 1970, pp 26-27.

 

--ACW

What some have said about the books mentioned

Vincent O'Malley

The Great War for New Zealand:Waikato 1800-2000. 2016.

Vincent O’Malley’s work in regard to the Waikato Wars brings to life the ancestors of New Zealand history. He shines a spotlight on a dark period of our collective past and brings it into a modern conversation for the consideration of New Zealand’s future. Rahui Papa, Chairman, Te Arataura, Waikato-Tainui

Across this nation, there are defining moments in our history. The Waikato Wars changed the face of Aotearoa New Zealand and most significantly the lives and wellbeing of Waikato-Tainui through the confiscation of lands. It is a story that must be told, must not be forgotten and must be shared in the living rooms of all New Zealanders for our future generations. This rich account by Vincent O’Malley strikes out to do that – E te rangatira, teenei te whakaaro nui ki a koe. Parekawhia McLean, Ngaati Mahanga, Waikato-Tainui, Ngaati Maniapoto

Vincent O'Malley

The New Zealand Wars: Nga Pakanga o Aotearoa. 2019.

‘I believe Vincent O'Malley's research will be the single most important historical body of work produced in my lifetime. Finally we have a narrative which carefully weaves both the accounts of the British Colonial government with those of hapū rangatira. While not all New Zealanders are ready to confront our past, this work will serve as a taonga for future generations. He mahi taipari whakarewa waka ngā whakaaro tēnei.’
Mihingarangi Forbes, journalist



‘This book should be core curriculum for all New Zealanders . . . With every page, O’Malley exposes the nation’s deep wounds to the light and applies the healing balm of truth. I really wish this book had been available when I was studying New Zealand history at high school!’
Arama Rata, University of Waikato

James Bellich

The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict, 1986. Reprinted 2015.

James Belich’s book is a tour de force. In a brilliant new analysis, he demolishes the received wisdom of the course and outcome of the new Zealand Wars . . . explains how we came by the version and why it is all wrong, and substitutes his own interpretation. It is a vigorous and splendidly stylish contribution to our historiography. – the New Zealand Listener

This is not just a good book. It is a remarkable book. – Professor Keith Sinclair

◙ For Bellich's excellent five-part televised series on the wars, click here.

Dick Scott

Ask that Mountain: the Story of Parihaka. 1975; reprinted 2008.

Honorary Dr Dick Scott:

his book finally recognized

Sep 28, 2011 Alan rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition

A great narrative history of home grown oppression in New Zealand. Gifted story telling outlines the complexities, the racism and the outright theft of Maori land in Taranaki by the government of the day. It is a compelling story of nonviolent resistance to injustice.

flag 1 like · Like  · see review

Sep 11, 2018 Kane Kvasnicka rated it it was amazing

this book should be read by all new zealand people .. uncomfortably recent.... and a look into new zealands not so old history.