Te Whiti was born in 1830 in a place called Ngamotu ,Taranaki during the Musket Wars .
He was the son of a minor chief . He lived peace fully on the coast near Parihaka until
1865. Te Whiti attended Reimehschnieder School and was very good at bible studies . At school he was identified as a possible teacher /prophet. After he left school he set up a flour mill at Warea .
Te Whiti was imprisoned because he refused to give up the land. In prison he learned how to use the European technology. For example cutting plate steel . He also played mind games on the gaurds and attempted to make them doubt their sanity. While in jail Te Whiti instructed his people to continue ploughing the fields and planting their crops.
By 1870 Parihaka had become the largest village in the country. The Europeans began taking the Maori land and punishing people. Woman and young girls were sexually assaulted and the men were carrying a disease called syphills. That made you mad.
Te Whiti and Tohu were leaders of the Parihaka Movement. They protested peacefully.
The people of Parihaka challenged the Europeans because the land was taken unfairly .
In 1888 Te Whiti’s wife died and he was not allowed to attend to her funeral . Shortly after she died Te Whiti was released from prison. When he got back he found that Parihaka was ahead of its time of itself and it had lighting, drainage and running water.
Te Whiti died on November 18th 1907. Te Whiti was 91or 92 years old when he died and we do not know what he died of.
Te Whiti was a inspirational leader because he told all his men not to use guns because
he thought that was the wrong thing to do. He also went to prison because the Europeans sent him there and there he still did not tell his men to use guns.
from Shona Nugus
Phew! This was a hard task. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mrs Allen, it was a hard task! :)
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