On the 5th of November 1881, Crown soldiers, led by the Native Minister John Bryce, marched on the peaceful village of Parihaka, located 42 km south-west of New Plymouth. By the end of November, Parihaka; the largest Maori village in New Zealand had been levelled and 2,200 people had been sent away or imprisoned.
It was the intention of Te Whiti o Rongomai (Taranaki and Te Atiawa) and Tohu Kākahi (Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui): the spiritual and political leaders of Parihaka, to show their people that the path of peaceful, non-violent resistance could be more effective in retaining the land which Maori still occupied.
In 1883 Te Whiti and Tohu were allowed to return to Parihaka, while others still remained in South Island jails. The last of the prisoners returned on 12 July 1898.
Parihaka was rebuilt and in 1907, both Te Whiti and Tohu died.
Resources at North Shore Library
Fiction
Junior Library Resources
Websites about Parihaka
The Legacy of Parihaka by Bornholdt, Jenny
The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, 186472 by Cowan, James