Consequences
These events are a significant topic for New Zealanders because the damage that was inflicted on both sides has carried on causing problems right up to the present day. Tuhoe lost much of their land due to confiscations and their attempts at governing themselves were stopped by the government. Events years later like the arrest of the prophet Rua Kenana in 1916 and the police raids of 2007 showed that the resentment on all sides caused by the East Coast Wars never really went away.
In 1883, Te Kooti was pardoned by the Government and because of this he decided that he would return to his old home, before the wars began, on the East Coast. However, it would be obvious to see that he would not be forgiven by the people who lived in that area so easily. Te Kooti was arrested soon after his arrival ‘home’ by the local magistrate of the area and threw him in prison. Fearing a breach of the peace and truce that there was at this time, Te Kooti was released on the terms that he would never again try to enter try to return to his old home. People around the Gisborne area were still afraid of Te Kooti because of the savagery that he fought and killed people with in the past. People believed that if he was allowed to live on the East Coast again then his large number of followers that he still had at this time would follow him there. This could lead to Te Kooti plotting more attacks like he had done in the past. By 1889, people have said that Te Kooti was now an alcoholic and was a real loose cannon who could snap at any time and cause more conflict. Throughout the time that Te Kooti had spent in hiding it must have been extremely difficult for people on the East Coast to continue with a normal life. Especially for families living on farms in places like the outskirts of Gisborne because of the fact that nobody could say exactly where Te Kooti was and the thought that he could turn up at your house at any moment with many of his warriors in tow would have been devastating to live with. Te Kooti and his followers had a history of attacking family homes if they wanted somewhere to hide out or to stay. This fear of Te Kooti was one that everyone had at this time and that fear would have continued right up until his death in 1893 and beyond that as well.
By 1908, due to Tuhoe chief Rua Kenana’s struggle for power, Tuhoe were on the brink of a civil war which caused Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward to intervene. Ward set up a meeting in March 1908 with all the Tuhoe tribes in an attempt to resolve the conflict between Tuhoe’s two main parties, Rua Kenana and Numai Kereru. It is said that by this time Rua Kenana had become a political embarrassmentand because of this the Government saw him as an opportunity to publically take Rua down under the impression that it would discourage other Maori activists. A number of laws were passed by the Government with supported by the church which were aimed at taking down Rua Kenana. Rua was fined in 1910 due to a number of charges of obtaining alcohol and in 1915 was given a short jail sentence for similar offences. This did little to discourage him however and after his release Rua went back to what he was doing before hand. Rua Kenana had built a new community at Maungapohatu, in the heart of the Urewera bush in 1908 which was created for the purpose of improving the welfare of his followers. This new Community was independent and closed off from the rest of the world. The Government were enraged by the fact that Rua Kenana said, “I have 1400 men here and I am not going to let any of them enlist or go to war. You have no king now. The King of England he is no good. He is beat. The Germans will win. Any money I have I will give to the Germans”. On April 2 1916, 70 heavily armed police officers arrived at Maungapohatu with the purpose of arresting Rua Kenana. Rua resisted to arrest and a gun fight between police and Rua Kenana’s followers broke out that lasted half an hour. In this battle Rua’s son Toko and a Maori bodyguard were killed by police as well as 4 police officers getting wounded. Rua Kenana was eventually arrested and although he was found not guilty for sedition, he was still jailed for a year for resisting the police. This is a consequence of the East Coast wars because before Te Kooti died he predicted that he would have a successor, which Rua Kenana announced that he planned to be that person. Rua continued what Te Kooti had started under his the same Ringatu faith that Te Kooti had founded while in prison. None of the police raids or conflict between Rua Kenana and Sir Joseph Ward would have happened if Te Kooti had not started what he did.
The East Coast wars are different to the rest of the New Zealand wars in the way that most of the conflict in places like Taranaki and Wanganui were fought between two tribes in a battle or a Maori tribe against the Government. They were often a major battle that was planned, and much of the time, expected. The spontaneous nature in which much of the East Coast Wars were fought, while Te Kooti and other rebel groups were causing conflict, would have not only upset the balance of power within the people of New Zealand and the Government, but also changed the views of countries internationally as well. For a farmer or laborer in the times of the East Coast Wars, it would have been extremely traumatic and worrying knowing that any moment a group of Pai Marere rebels or Te Kooti and his men could show up at your home and attack you for control of that house for its shelter and supplies. In many cases of this happening during the time of Te Kooti’s reign, the owners of remote farm houses would be attacked and killed for the sole reason that they lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. People in Britain were given the message to come to New Zealand because it was a great place to live and it could be a new start or an adventure for people living in Britain. Once word gets out that it is no longer safe to live in New Zealand and there is a risk of being attacked then people are going to be discouraged more and more not to come to New Zealand for it would not be as safe as it was in the beginning. Also the relationship between the New Zealand and British governments could have been severely damaged because of the large number of British troops that were being killed as a result of New Zealand people’s uprising as well as missionary’s, politicians and military leaders. At the time this sort of bad parliamentary relationship with another country would have been a bad outcome for New Zealand because if Britain’s leaders were pushed too far then they could decide to send many more troops to New Zealand and finish the Maori uprising completely through the strength of military arms or the other outcome could be the complete opposite and they could have chosen to cut ties altogether with New Zealand and leave the (already in conflict) country to fend for itself. This means that New Zealand would have lost external security, economic support and industrial growth from Britain for New Zealand’s disposal.
Another consequence from the East Coast Wars was the strong hatred and dislikes that resulted from the fighting and conflict that took place. Reconciliation was not seen until May 2013 between the East Coast tribes Ngati Porou and Tuhoe. It took place at the funeral of Labour MP Parekura Horomia on May 2 when Tuhoe turned up at the funeral and offered peace between the two tribes and bring an end to more than a century of agitation. It brings an end to a rivalry that started in 1868 when Te Kooti returned to the East Coast from the Chatham Islands. The battle that broke out between the followers of the Hauhau Movement, many of them Tuhoe, and Rapata Wahawaha of Ngati Porou. Wahawaha was instrumental in the capture of Te Kooti in 1869 and demanded the execution of nearly 120 Tuhoe captives which proved to be the start 145 years of hatred and differences between the two.
A positive consequence for the East Coast Wars is the continuation of the Ringatu faith that Te Kooti founded while imprisoned on the Chatham Islands. His new-found faith gathered many followers on the Chatham’ s and throughout the East Coast during Te Kooti’s reign. Even after Te Kooti’s death, his faith still lived on with it growing even greater in numbers due to the work of his successor, Rua Kenana. The Ringatu faith still lives on in New Zealand society in our modern day with it constantly gaining many more followers and it is now known to have up to 10,000 followers. It has grown to the 4th largest religion in New Zealand and is seen as a major consequence from the East Coast wars that had a positive influence on New Zealand society today.
New Zealand has shown signs that the Significance of the New Zealand Wars has not changed at all from the time that they were fought to the present day. Commemorative days such as Waitangi day are celebrated to show that everyone in New Zealand society today are untied as one country not divided into groups or tribes. On days like this everyone can remember the significance that the New Zealand wars have for our country and how they are seen as a major defining moment in the making of New Zealand as a country. So these wars are not only remembered for their fierce battles and devastating loss of life, they are also shown to be remembered for being the reason New Zealand is the country that it is today. Even though a few Maori tribes were left divided such as Ngati Porou, the New Zealand Wars were also the reason for treaties and alliances that still stand today between many Maori tribes and the Government.
Ref: stuff.co.nz 02/05/2013