November 07, 2021
Parihaka invasion a stain on New Zealand history
Friday was the 140th anniversary of the invasion of Parihaka by a government column.
Descendant Wharehoka Wano says the village on the slopes of Taranaki maunga had become a place of shelter for Māori who had lost their lands, but its success under prophets Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi was seen as a threat by the settler government.
He says the injustice of the attack was swept under the carpet for more than a century, but the stain came through.
“They stole the whenua, They stole our economic base. They stole our identity and our language and all those things that followed. ,So stain is a word we should use and be real about the history, so the long battle as we come into this generation and the generations that follow is to acknowledge our history in an honest and true way,” Mr Wano says.