Walking peace

Over the last few days, hundreds of people from different walks of life, all ages, Maori and pakeha [white] participated in a Peace Walk to Parihaka, a small Maori village around the coast from New Plymouth.NZ.

The walk was led by Andrew Judd, our mayor and self-confessed 'recovering racist' who had received a vitriolic response when he attempted  to ensure adequate Maori representation on local government. Andrew, seen here with Archbishop Philip Richardson,   initiated the walk to Parihaka to encourage New Zealanders  to look at our own attitudes towards the indigenous people of Aotearoa  New Zealand.

The story of Parihaka is still not widely known in New Zealand let alone around the world. During the NZ Wars of the 19th Century, Parihaka was a haven for dispossessed Maori following the confiscation of their ancestral lands in parts of the North Island, and reached a population of around 10,000 in the 1870's. As pressures for more land for settlers increased, the New Plymouth township sought to expand along the coast towards Parihaka. In response, the charismatic leaders of the Parihaka community, Te Whiti and Tohu, influenced by scripture and their own cultural values, inspired a campaign of passive resistance. As the settlers made roads, put up fences or began to plant crops, men from Parihaka would plough up the roads and fields and remove the fences, over and over, in spite of daily arrests and unlawful detainment. This campaign came to be symbolised by the raukura, three white feathers representing the Biblical teaching of Luke 2.14:

He whaikororia ki te Atua i runga rawa 

Glory to God on high

He maungarongo ki runga i te mata o te whenua 

Peace on earth

He whakaaro pai ki te tangata 

Goodwill to all mankind

Finally in 1881, soldiers were sent to enforce Colonial supremacy and deal with the 'threat' which they thought Parihaka represented. The children of Parihaka met the soldiers, singing as they sat on the road leading to the village. It was a sign of the community's commitment to peace, but it made no difference, The village was overcome by brute force, its women violated, its men exiled to the cold caves of Dunedin, as far away as possible from all they held dear.

On Friday, as those of us who joined the final stages of the walk moved slowly across the very ground which heard the songs of children and the boots of soldiers over 130 years ago, sounds of karanga [calls], wailing and powerful haka rang out.

And then, as we made our way towards the marae, Mayor Andrew began to beat a bass drum.
The sound went straight to my soul - this is what the people of Parihaka would have heard as the soldiers approached in 1881. What dread it represented then - but not now.

In a stunning gesture of reconciliation, and in recognition of the Peace Walk's intention, the people of Parihaka, had, for the very first time, invited a pakeha to beat the drum. The mutual, intense longing for peace was tangible, The wairua [spirit] was among us.

A new chapter in the story of Parihaka has begun. May it remind us all that reconciliation is possible, new bridges can be built across cultures even when historic wrongs are grave, so long as  there are people of good will, hope and love.