NEW ZEALAND (AOTEAROA) - PARIHAKA

A Legacy of Non-Violence

Descendants of Martin Luther King came here, descendants of Gandhi came here and Ikida - the great teachers of peace came here to recognize this place as a milestone in the evolution of consciousness.
 
Parihaka is an amazing story of non-violent resistance, some 60 years before Gandhi did his great movement of peace in the face of oppression. It was the story of two prophets, Te Whiti and Tohu, who in the wake of the land wars during which the invaders (who came to be known as the pakeha - the white people of New Zealand) were stealing the land from the Maori's and killing the Maori's and Maori's were also being pitted against each other with the introduction of the gun. The people of Parihaka devised a different approach.

A community of peace was formed, at the foot of Mt Taranaki in Aotearoa, a visually stunning volcano (which last erupted in the 1860's). Children played an active and important role in the peaceful resistance. For twenty years Parihaka grew to be the largest Maori settlement, and a sanctuary. Each month on the 18th day, the community gathered together in what's known as the ‘Maeri' to strategize and pray.

On November 5th, 1881, 1500 Pakeha soldiers were sent in. They were met by 200 children as the first line of defense, swinging their poi, skipping, playing, like the sound of a thousand cicadas they came to meet the soldiers bearing gifts of bread and food. They didn't win that day, the leaders were arrested and many were shipped down to the far away from their home to the South Island, to the very tip. Some spent as many as 18 years in forced labor. So some might say that this example of non-violent resistance didn't work but in fact it did work because the message continues today and the people still gather here and many still live here. Gandhi is said to have based his techniques on the non-violent actions of the Maori of Parihaka.

In New Zealand, the legacy of Te Whiti and Tohu lives on and is celebrated during the Parihaka International Peace Festival, a three-day cultural celebration honouring all forms of artistic expression dedicated to peacemaking and reconciliation.

In New Zealand at Parihaka, I discovered a deep power that is mythical, mystical, and fierce. The Maori are known as great warriors the world over. I discovered the many many manifestations of the "Warrior", from the Violent, to the Peaceful, to the Sacred while in New Zealand. a peaceful warrior is somebody who creates clarity, who comes from a place of strength, who comes from a place of authenticity and I think that that is a great teaching that we need. We need to become authentic, we need to have guts, we need to be strong because these are demanding times, but we need to be gentle, we need to have compassion. That is the very strong, strong message that I learned in Aotearoa.

BLOG

Village of Peace blog entry by Velcrow Ripper 
Feathers of Peace blog entry by Velcrow Ripper

A MAORI ORIGIN STORY 

WEB LINKS
The Parihaka International Peace Festival
Maui Solomon