Pai Mārire

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Pai Mārire (also called Hauhau by New Zealanders of European descent ) is a syncretistic religion of the Māori , which was particularly important on the North Island of New Zealand between 1863 and 1874. It was founded in the Taranaki region by the prophet Te Ua Haumene and consisted of elements borrowed from the Bible and the traditional beliefs of the Māori. She promised her believers liberation from the predominance of the Pākehā (Europeans). In doing so, she added religious aspects to the previously purely political independence movement of the Māori. The ready acceptance of the new religion by some Māori also showed their rejection of Christianity and their distrust in the missionaries because of their role in buying land to the detriment of the indigenous people. The new religion gained widespread support among the Māori of the North Island and had close ties to the Māori King Movement .

The movement caused great concern for European settlers because of the attacks by some of the supporters on isolated settler communities. Although founded for peaceful motives - the name literally means "good and peaceful" - Pai Mārire was known primarily to an extremist part of the supporters among the Europeans under the name Hauhau . There is evidence that the worst excesses of violence between 1864 and 1865 were led by "sub-prophets" who acted against the wishes of Te Ua and the principles of their religion. The rise and spread of these violent expressions of Pai Mārire can be seen in response to military operations by the New Zealand government against the Māori of the North Island aimed at expanding European influence and conquering land for European settlement. The historian BJ Dalton is of the opinion that after 1865 all Māori under arms were almost stereotypically referred to as "Hauhau".

The Pai Mārire created new rites such as magic spells , a kind of totem pole (Niu) and the belief in a supernatural protection against bullets. The rites also included beheadings , the cutting out of the hearts of enemy soldiers, and ritual cannibalism . Pai Mārire spread rapidly over the North Island from 1864 and united the otherwise often warring tribes in a passionate hatred of the Pākehā. It was also the inspiration for the strong military resistance against the colonial forces, especially in the Second Taranaki War (1863–1866).

Governor George Gray began a military campaign to suppress the movement in April 1865, attacking dozen of villages in Taranaki and on the east coast. More than 400 followers were captured. Most were interned in the Chatham Islands . Elements of the religion flowed into the religion Ringatu ("Raised Hand") founded in 1868 by Te Kooti , who escaped from the Chathams .

In the 2006 census, 609 New Zealand residents named their religious affiliation as "Hauhau".

Prophet Te Ua

The future prophet of the religion, Te Ua Haumene, was born in the Taranaki region in the early 1820s. He and his mother were captured and enslaved by an enemy tribe in 1826. He learned to read and write Māori and studied the New Testament . He was baptized in 1834 by the Reverend John Whiteley in the Wesleyan Mission in Kawhia under the name "Horopapera Tuwhakararo". This is a transliteration by John Zerubbabel . He later returned to Taranaki.

In the 1850s he became a supporter of the Māori King Movement . In the 1860s he fought against colonial troops in the First Taranaki War . He also fought in the invasion of Waikato , where he also served as a chaplain to the Māori soldiers. In the early 1860s, Te Ua was part of a runanga (local administration), which, in addition to the local administration, should also ensure that the borders of the land, which was under the mana of the Māori king, remained intact.

This set the cornerstones of Te Ua's religious teaching: he believed that the Māori had a right to defend their borders, he believed in the nationwide redemption of the Māori from the white settlers, and he suspected the missionaries of the loss of land to promote the Māori.

The elevation of Te Ua to a prophet followed an incident in September 1862. The British steamship Lord Worsley was shipwrecked off the coast of Taranaki. The local Māori discussed what to do with the cargo and crew. Te Ua, who was then living in Wereroa Pā near Waitotara , demanded that the salvaged cargo should be sent to New Plymouth. However, he was not heard and the cargo was looted. On September 5, he claimed to have had a vision in which the Archangel Gabriel announced to him that the Last Judgment of the Bible was near and that God had chosen him to be a prophet. As such, he should throw out the Pākehā and reinstate “Israel” (the Māori) in their birthright on the land of Canaan (Aotearoa / New Zealand).

There are contradicting versions of how Te Ua reacted to this vision: According to one version, he is said to have killed his child and to have declared in a letter circulated among the tribes that this was done for the redemption of his people, which were “confused, desolate and in doubt " be. Other reports claimed he broke the child's leg and miraculously healed it. Te Ua was increasingly gaining a reputation for having miraculous powers. Views among the settlers were less flattering: Bishop William Williams claimed Te Ua was showing strong signs of insanity, and colonial soldier and historian TW Gudgeon claimed he had been considered a "harmless lunatic" of weak intellect but peaceful attitudes.

Establishing and spreading religion

Te Ua began formulating his new religion, which included a holy book, Ua Rongo Pai (The Gospel According to Ua). This combined elements of Old Testament morality, Christian doctrine and traditional Māori religion. Their goal was to create a peaceful society where righteousness and justice prevailed. They saw themselves as a second chosen people and believed that with the divine help of Jehovah they would get their ancestral land back and the English would be driven back into the sea. To spread the religion, Te Ua selected three men as sub-prophets: Tahutaki, Hepenaia, and Wi Parara.

Attack at Ahuahu

The white settlers became dramatically aware of the existence of the new religion through a series of attacks in April and May 1864. On April 6, a force led by Tahutaki and Hepenaia marched to the bushy village of Ahuahu, south of Oakura near New Plymouth , to get their hands on some Pākehā (whites). The group surprised a combined force of the 57th Regiment and the newly formed Taranaki Military Settlers, a total of 101 men. They rested without their weapons on an expedition to destroy the Māori crops. The Māori killed seven and wounded twelve men. The bodies of the seven dead, including Commander Captain PWJ Lloyd, were stripped and beheaded. One of the soldiers' leg was also cut off.

The easy victory over a numerically larger, British-led force gave the movement a strong boost and, in the opinion of many Māori, confirmed the view of being under the protection of the Archangel Gabriel . Te Ua was now seen as its prophet. The number of followers rose sharply and the rites of Pai Mārire were further developed. Some of them used the cut off heads of soldiers through which Te Ua supposedly could communicate with Jehovah.

Attack on Sentry Hill

Three weeks later, on April 30, 1864, 200 warriors demonstrated their belief in divine protection when attacking the fortifications on Sentry Hill, nine miles northwest of New Plymouth. The fortification was defended by 75 British soldiers with two Coehorn mortars . The Māori of Iwi Atiawa saw the construction of the outpost on their land as a provocation and formed a force with Māori from the west coast.

Under the leadership of Hepanaia, the warriors participated in rites around a niu at Manutahi pā . All the major chiefs were present: Wiremu Kingi , Kingi Parengarenga, Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi . The latter two later became prophets in Parihaka . Armed with muskets, shotguns and traditional Māori weapons, the troops marched to Sentry Hill and began the attack on the hill with the fortification at 8 a.m.

When they came under massive fire from close range, they only "protect" themselves by holding up their right hand and saying the magic formula. 34 Māori, a fifth of the attackers, and one British man were killed.

Among the dead were chiefs Hepanaia, Kingi Parengarenga (Taranaki), Tupara Keina (Ngatiawa), Tamati Hone (Ngati Ruanui) and Hare Te Kokai (who had advocated the frontal attack). The carnage temporarily weakened confidence in Pai Marire. Te Ua, however, had a satisfactory explanation: The guilt lay with the fallen themselves, as they had not shown absolute belief in the spells.

Battle of Moutoa

Two weeks later, on May 14, 1864, a troop from Pai Mārire moved from the upper reaches of the Whanganui River to the Wanganui settlement in order to raid it. They attacked loyal Māori from the lower Whanganui River and killed 50 of them, including the prophet Matene Rangitauira.

The settlers erect New Zealand's first war memorial on the site of today's Moutoa Gardens . The inscription on the memorial read “To the memory of those brave men who fell at Moutoa 14 May 1864 in defense of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism” - “In memory of the brave men who died on 14 May 1864 in defense of Law and order against fanaticism and barbarism fell ”.

Murders on the East Coast

The setbacks on Sentry Hill and Moutoa Island reinforced the Māori belief in Te Ua's movement, believing that the defeats were due to the disobedience of the prophets Hepanaia and Matene against their leader. Other Iwi joined Te Ua. In early 1865, two embassies, carrying human heads dried in smoke, were sent from Taranaki via Wanganui and Taupo to Chief Hirini Te Kani in Poverty Bay . One of the groups moved through Rotorua , Whakatāne , Opotiki and the East Cape , the other moved through the center of the North Island via Ruatahuna and the Wairoa District .

The emissaries were instructed to act peaceably and to gain support from the tribes by transferring their spiritual powers to the leading converts of each tribe. These should take over the role of a priest of Pai Mārire. However, on February 23, the group clashed with Māori, who were loyal to the New Zealand government , at Pipiriki, near Wanganui, and decided to kill every missionary they encountered.

Concern about the growing influence of Pai Mārire grew among European settlers. In a letter to the Minister of Māori Affairs , the Resident Magistrate for Central Wanganui warned that Hauhau fanaticism was spreading rapidly in the province and he feared that “it would cause great evil. The province is now the center of the Māori King Movement. "

The warning came too late for one of the missionaries in the North Island. At Taupo , Pai Mārire campaigners looted the house of Reverend Thomas Samuel Grace . On March 2, they hanged and beheaded the Reverend Carl Sylvius Völkner from Germany in Opotiki . His head was taken to the local church, where his eyes were torn out and eaten by the prophet Kereopa Te Rau during a “service” . The so-called Völkner Incident is partly attributed as revenge for Völkner's spying on the local Māori on behalf of the government. But it could also go back to Kereopa's desire to expose the local Māori from Iwi Te Whakatōhea to the government's vengeance. This tribe had previously fought a battle with Kereopa's own Iwi Te Arawa .

Thomas Samuel Grace, who fled Taupo to Opotiki, was captured and put on trial by the Pai Mārire. Two weeks later he was freed by the crew of the British warship HMS Eclipse . Local Pai-Mārire leaders had tried unsuccessfully to exchange him for the imprisoned chief Hori Tupaea .

On July 22, the Taranaki prophet Horomona led the murder of the captain and two of the three crew members of the schooner Kate at Whakatāne .

Government crackdown

On April 29, 1865, Governor Gray published a proclamation condemning the "heinous acts repulsive to all mankind" of Pai Mārire followers and warning that the government would be in power by force of arms and everyone else if necessary Resistance means and suppress the "fanatical doctrines, rites and practices".

Horomona and Kirimangu were hanged for their July 22 murders on the schooner Kate , and a coalition of government troops and loyal Maori embarked on an expedition under Hawke's Bay Provincial Superintendent Donald McLean to destroy religion on the east coast. From June to October 1865 a kind of civil war raged on the east coast. This culminated in November in the Battle of Waerenga-a-Hika on Poverty Bay . Hundreds of followers were captured. There was a separate military operation in Taranaki known as the "Second Taranaki War". This operation was led by the British General Duncan Cameron , who raided dozens of villages and captured hundreds more followers.

In February 1866, Te Ua was captured by Cameron's successor, Major General Trevor Chute , near Opunake in Taranaki. Chute claimed that Te Ua was instantly abandoned by everyone in his village; they had sworn an oath on the crown and were then released. He also reported that the Kūpapa (loyal Māori) had requested his immediate execution. Te Ua was taken to Wanganui . On the way he wrote to his followers on the North Island: "Let the evil come to an end ... so that the general may cease operations against you."

Te Ua and Patara were released in Auckland, and most of the other leaders were also spared. Gray deported 400 followers from the east coast including Te Kooti to the Chatham Islands . Elements of Pai Mārire were later incorporated into the Ringatu religion, which Te Kooti founded after fleeing the Chathams.

Te Ua died in Oeo in Taranaki in October 1866 .

Rites and beliefs

Te Ua's followers identified themselves with the Jews, called their priests Teu (from English Jews ), and observed the Jewish Sabbath . They believed they were a second chosen people and that with God's help they would return from the wilderness to freedom in their ancestral lands. Te Ua taught that the Creator, Jehovah , would fight for them and drive the English back into the sea.

When the last enemy was gone, all Māori who had lived since the beginning of the world would rise and stand before Zerubbabel. This would cure them of all diseases and ailments. Heaven would send men to teach the Māori all the arts and sciences of the Europeans. The day of the resurrection was first predicted for December 1864. Te Ua demanded that men and women give up monogamy and live together in a community in order to have as many children as possible.

Niu

The services were held on a niu , a stake often about 18 m high. This had yards like a sailing ship, from which ropes hang down. The first of these niu was the mast of the Lord Worsley ship . Parishioners circled the niu several times a day, chanting and touching a human head attached to a stake while the priests held prayer services. Historian Babbage wrote that the worshipers climbed into a state of insanity until catalepsy regularly drove them down.

The chants of the devotees as they surrounded the niu were described as a mishmash of Christian and Māori concepts, soldiers and sailors, English and Māori, interrupted by the barking “password” of the rite. The “angels of the wind” (“Anahera hau”) should be present at the services and climb up and down on the ropes hanging from the yards. At the end of 1865 there was a niu in almost every major village from Taranaki to the Bay of Plenty and from north of Wellington District to the Waikato border .

The chants

Historian James Cowan describes many of the chants simply as meaningless strings of English words rounded into the softer Māori . Others were either transliterations or mispronunciations of portions of Church of England services with Latin inserts from the Roman Catholic Rite. Some phrases were military orders picked up in military camps. Some others were of nautical origin. Te Ua mastered the points of the compass rose like any European sailor.

The singing began:

Kira, wana, do, tiri, wha — Teihana!
Rewa, piki rewa, rongo rewa, tone, piki tone — Teihana!
Rori, piki rori, rongo rori, puihi, piki puihi — Teihana!
Rongo puihi, rongo tone, hira, piki hira, rongo hira — Teihana!
Mauteni, piki mauteni, rongo mauteni, piki niu, rongo niu — Teihana!
Nota, no te pihi, no te hihi, noriti mino, noriti, koroni — Teihana!
Hai, kamu, te ti, oro te mene, rauna te niu — Teihana!
Hema, rura wini, tu mate wini, kamu te ti — Teihana!

Translation into English, this gives an idea of ​​the linguistic origin:

Kill, one, two, three, four — Attention!
River, big river, long river, stone, big stone — Attention!
Road, big road, long road, bush, big bush — Attention!
Long bush, long stone, hill, big hill, long hill — Attention!
Mountain, big mountain, long mountain, big staff, long staff — Attention!
North, north-by-east, nor'-nor'-east, nor'-east-by-north, north-east, colony — Attention!
Come to tea, all the men, round the niu — Attention!
Shem, rule the wind, too much wind, come to tea — Attention!

Translation into German:

Kill, one, two, three, four - attention!
River, big river, long river, stone, big stone - attention!
Street, big street, long street, bush, big bush - attention!
Long bush, long stone, hill, large hill, long hill - attention!
Mountain, big mountain, long mountain, big stick, long stick - attention!
North, north-east, north-north-east, north-east near north, north-east - attention!
Come to tea, all men, to the niu - attention!
Sem , beat the wind, too much wind, come to tea - attention!

Divine protection in battle

Te Ua taught that fighting in the service of God and strictly following his own instructions would render his followers bulletproof if they raise their right hand and shout, “Hapa! Hapa! Pai Mārire, hew! Blow! Hau! ”“ Hapa ”means to overcome, to ward off. The "Hau!" Was shouted by a single warrior in such a way that it resembled a dog's bark. The “Hau!” Literally means “wind”, but here it refers to the principle of life or the living spark of man.

A similar belief in divine protection from bullets is known from Islamic groups in Africa and Asia and the spirit dance movement in America.

literature

  • P. Clark: Hauhau: The Pai Marire Search for Maori Identity . Auckland University Press / Oxford University Press, 1975.
  • LF Head: The Gospel of Te Ua Haumene , In: The Journal of the Polynesian Society , Vol. 101, 1992, pp. 7-44.
  • AC Lyall: Whakatohea of ​​Opotiki . AH & AW Reed, 1979
  • Taranaki Religions 2001, NJ Taniwha TWOR 2003

Individual evidence

  1. Ranginui Walker : Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End . Penguin, Auckland 1990, ISBN 0-14-013240-6 , pp. 130-132.
  2. a b c d Michael King : The Penguin History of New Zealand . Penguin, Auckland 2003, ISBN 0-14-301867-1 , pp. 216-218.
  3. a b c d e f S. Barton Babbage: Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866 . Chapter 1. AH & AW Reed, Dunedin, 1937.
  4. a b c S. Barton Babbage: Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866 . Chapter 3. AH & AW Reed, Dunedin, 1937
  5. ^ A b Paul Clark: Hauhau: The Pai Marire Search for Maori Identity. (1975) quoted by Belich in The New Zealand Wars (1986), chapter 11.
  6. ^ BJ Dalton: War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870 . Sydney University Press, Sydney 1967, pp. 207-208.
  7. a b c d e f James Cowan: The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Vol 2, Chapter 1, 1922 .
  8. a b c S. Barton Babbage: Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866 . Chapter 5. AH & AW Reed, Dunedin, 1937
  9. ^ Religious Affiliation . (XLS 28 kB) Statistics New Zealand , 2006, archived from the original on November 15, 2013 ; accessed on May 7, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  10. a b c d e Keith Sinclair : A History of New Zealand . Penguin, Auckland 2000, ISBN 0-14-029875-4 , p. 396.
  11. a b c d e f g h i S. Barton Babbage: Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866 . Chapter 2. AH & AW Reed, Dunedin, 1937.
  12. a b B. Wells, The History of Taranaki, chap. 24, 1878.
  13. ^ A b James Cowan: The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period , Volume 2, Chapter 2. 1922.
  14. James Cowan, Vol. 2, chap. 3
  15. ^ Moutoa Gardens NZ Wars memorial . In: New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , June 25, 2014, accessed September 28, 2018 .
  16. ^ A b S. Barton Babbage: Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866 . Chapter 4. AH & AW Reed, Dunedin, 1937.
  17. ^ JM Keesing: The Changing Maori: Memoir of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research . 1928. cited by Babbage, chapter 2.
  18. ^ Gudgeon, quoted by Babbage, chapter 2