Parihaka

Parihaka was a small communitiy in Taranaki Province, New Zealand.

It was here that the Maori Prophet, Te Whiti, became involved in resistance to the confiscation of Maori land by the New Zealand Government. Open warfare had proved unavailing so Te Whiti developed a doctrine of passive resistance such as theremoval of survey pegs and the ploughing up of access roads. This put the Government in a quandry; they could not use the Justice System to stop the Maori obstruction because their siezure of the land had itself been illegal.

On November 5, 1880 Parihaka was invaded by 1600 armed constabulary. Te Whiti and many of his supporters were arrested and held without trial for long periods. The Prime Minister's attempts to defend the Government's actions provoked a constitutional crisis.

By today's standards this was a shameful episode in New Zealand's history.