The Taranaki settlement of Parihaka

Parihaka had grown in the wake of the land wars of the 1860s, and by the 1870s was the largest Māori village in the country. This self-sufficient community was made up of Māori who had become dispossessed during the land conflicts and was led by two prophets – Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi.

Militia action and passive resistance

On 5 November 1881 the Parihaka community in Taranaki was invaded by 1500 militia and armed constabulary. The invading forces were greeted by singing children and 2000 peaceful residents who did not resist either invasion or arrest. Over the course of two weeks, the army demolished much of the settlement and eventually all crops and livestock were destroyed.

It is estimated that around 1600 people were either evicted or taken prisoner.

Civil disobedience and imprisonment without trial

Residents faced further Government confiscations of land around the Parihaka settlement. They tried to prevent this confiscation by using tactics of passive resistance – ploughing and building fences across lands and roads, and removing pegs that had been placed by Government surveyors.

Often those who were caught engaging in these activities were arrested and imprisoned without trial in South Island prisons in Dunedin, Lyttelton (Ripapa Island) and Hokitika.

Here they were used as labourers on projects like road-building. In Dunedin, the harsh conditions under which they were jailed meant that some of these prisoners died, mainly from tuberculosis.

The last prisoners were released in 1898.