Photo: Shaan Te Kani
Hundreds of people will this week commemorate the loss, arrest and deportation of their ancestors in a siege that took place 160 years ago on Waerenga-A-Hika near Gisborne.
Over five days, the pā was flattened, 71 Māori living at the pā and 11 government soldiers were killed and many more including elderly, women and children were captured, arrested and deported to the Chatham Islands.
The lands were partitioned and given to soldiers whose families today are sixth generation farmers, orchardists and viticulturists.
Artist, iwi historian and Gisborne District Councillor Nick Tupara's five times great-grandfather was killed in the battle, he was a carver and teacher of the arts.
"His loss marks the total destruction of that school and the removal of our mātauranga and our knowledge and that weighs very heavily on the family," he said. "From that point we took the name Kerekere from a reference to te Pōkerekere a deep intense darkness and not only a darkness because of the loss of ancestors land but also the loss of that ancestral knowledge."
This years commemorations begin on Tuesday evening with the opening of the Waerenga-a-Hika exhibition at the Tairawhiti Museum, it features a collection of historic pieces including taonga from the battle and contemporary artworks.
On Saturday, there will also be a commemoration at the battle site.
Tupara said that by 1865 when the pā was attacked the East Coast was the only area that was untouched by war between the Crown and Māori.
"Colonial settlement was occurring pretty rapidly across the whole of the country and the Tairāwhiti was the last of all of that and eventually war was going to come here in some form or another."
Waerenga-a-Hika was established where it was because it was a fertile area, whare wānanga that taught carving and weaving were also based there, he said.
"It was a place where people could feel safe and settled... it's probably the last place I would classify as being a fortress or a place of military action, we have far stronger examples of that in our rohe, but this place was a place to gather, grow kai."
Waerenga-ā-Hika pā in ruins after it was attacked in 1865. Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library Reference: 1/2-008137; F
Tupara said local iwi were well connected with the settler communities, many tīpuna had been baptised in the church and many had also married settlers.
The principle reason given for the attack on Waerenga-a-Hika was a clash between followers of the Pai Mārire religion and Europeans and Māori who opposed the religion, he said.
"My personal view on that is that was a tool to instil fear and anxiety amongst the settlers, to create significant worry to justify the intervention of troops."
Tupara said another motivating factor was to clear the land for settlement.
With the exile of a large number of people to the Chatham Islands the land was surveyed and parcelled out to settlers, he said.
Tupara said he is hopeful that the commemorations can raise the consciousness of the battle among the local community.
"It's remembered rather poorly, it's remembered by the families who lost ancestors, it's remembered by the hapū and the iwi who lost their land and their resources."
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