Though this maybe true, it does not take account of the atrocious treatment that Mâori received subsequent to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Particularly, as a result of the fact that Mâori refused to sell their land to the New Zealand Company and others seeking land for immigrants to Aotearoa New Zealand.
From a Christian perspective the video that I watched powerfully informed me of some things that I, until now, had previously had no idea about. Firstly, that my Great, Great Grand Mother and her daughter, my Great Grand Mother arrived in New Zealand in February 1842 on the Fifeshire at Nelson. They were caught up in the first actions of Edward Gibbon Wakefield to attempt to acquire land from the Maori for settlement by immigrants that he had brought from the United Kingdom with the promise of a new and better life.
The trip on the Fifeshire had been a momentous one the my Great, Great Grandmother losing a child on the trip and the Captain choosing to forego a stop at South Africa to resupply with food and deciding to continue on the voyage to New Zealand. This meant little food for the second half of the journey.
After the ship landed at the port of Nelson, events soon led their family into conflict when Wakefield attempted to take possession of Mâori owned land that he claimed to have bought. Mâori denied him access to lands and disagreed that he had purchased land from them, so he led a contingent of settlers against them. This resulted in the death of a chief’s wife and the subsequent deaths of a number of settlers at the hand of the chief concerned. Most likely not the start my family were expecting.
The video that I watched supplied much of the detail above except the fact that my ancestors were there to see it. What I found to be most interesting was the events which later led to the atrocities inflicted on Mâori at Parihaka in the Taranaki. It was stated the Mâori population at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is believed to have been 70,000 people and that half of these folk were converted to Christianity.
Prior to Parihaka Mâori decided not to sell any more land. They were embroiled in a conflict with settlers over land being taken from them. The government of the time said that the Mâori had a legal grievance with the settlers but that the fact they had been in revolt against the Crown meant they were in the wrong. The government then confiscated one million acres of Mâori land in the Taranaki area.
Christian Mâori then built a settlement at Parihaka and lived peacefully with Pakeha at the time. However, when men came to survey the land the Mâori from Parihaka uprooted the survey pegs and ploughed the land. This was very effective strategy and the nature of their protest became known in England.
Subsequently, embarrassing questions were asked of the New Zealand government. It was decided to build a road toward Parihaka. Troops were sent to deal with the protesters. When the troops arrived the children of the settlement met them with gifts of food. This stopped them in their tracks but they were ordered to attack and remove the Mâori at Parihaka.
It was a brutal engagement and men, women and children were beaten and women were raped. The leaders were imprisoned without trial for years. The well established settlement of modern timber dwellings was raised to the ground. This was a tragic outcome and those responsible have much to atone for.
The reason I find this tragedy so devastating is that these were our brothers and sisters in Christ. After this terrible event Mâori began to fall away from Christianity. They saw that the missionaries said ABC but did abc. They said that they would do abc in future to the Pakeha. The result was ultimately the end of the Mâori Revival in Aotearoa in the first part of the Nineteenth century (1800 - 1850 AD).
It makes sense to me now why I have found Mâori to be such a dear people. Considering what they have been through at the hands of Pakeha and the British Crown. They are very forgiving and prepared to reconcile. I have said for some years that it has always seemed to me that if Mâori were prepared to repent, God would give Aotearoa back to them. I used to wonder why I thought that to be the case, but now that I know of Parihaka and other groups in Mâori who were bible believing Christians in the Nineteenth century. I understand why. Yahweh has loved them once and He waits for them to return to Him that he might bless them once again.
Reference List
Christianity and the Treaty https://youtu.be/4x8bDSr1C6o?si=821HCmGU-c7VzBr1
New Zealand Company settlers arrive in Nelson 1 February 1842 https://nzhistory.govt.nz/first-nz-company-settlers-arrive-in-nelson
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