Dr. John Hinchcliff’s Parihaka - Review
February 28, 2008
New Zealand has a habit of being considered second, rather than first among nations, even when it has a clear claim to the position of first. There are reasons for this—we don’t have a large standing army, for instance. Rather New Zealand tends to avoid conflict, and seek the path of reasoned enlightenment and diplomacy. I didn’t fully understand our legacy for non-violence very well until I read John Hinchcliff’s Parihaka, and became interested in it as a place and the events that transpired before Gandhi’s peaceful protests in the 1930s.
Parihaka – the Gentle Bridging of a Cultural Gap, Dr. John Hinchcliff’s historical novel bridged the gap for me, taking me outside of the colonial history I had been taught to secure my spirit and loyalty to the supremacy of white ethnocentrism. It’s not a limitation I would have imposed upon myself. But, then, nobody consulted me about how I should be educated.
Hinchcliff’s novel starts boldly with the unfamiliar, but most appropriate context of Maori creation myths, and it is beautiful, simple and moving. As a storyteller who creates races and gives them a mythology, it is always interesting to read the ideas of real world races and how they have explained the world they live in to themselves.
I have always observed this about the Maori, always wondered at their seeming simplicity, yet behind this is a sophisticated set of social ideas that I find, in many cases more appealing than so-called civilized western culture. The concepts of iwi, hapū and whānau were strange new words until recently.
Before I learned otherwise, I believed that the colonial races plundered and destroyed the earth, and that the indigenous peoples cultivated and worked with it. Who then is factually, more intelligent? I often wondered. Now I know better, I know that all men plunder the earth, and that it is time we stopped. It was in this context that I came to Parihaka; eager to learn more of the things that were denied me when I grew up in Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, and that for twenty years I distanced myself from.
However, there was also another aspect to reading this novel for me. I respect John Hinchcliff for his accomplishments, his connections and his position with respect to humanity, and I wanted to discover more of him, by reading this work—though it will barely suffice as more than an introduction, as the man has many accomplishments.
It will probably take a movie telling the story of Parihaka to let the world know that before Gandhi was Te Whiti and Tohu, the original peace activists and developers of non-violent protest and civil disobedience.
I’d like to see that film made, it’s a story worth telling and is a great part of the heritage and legacy of Aotearoa, New Zealand, who though small has established itself as a forward thinking progressive nation, that did a better job of managing the consequences of colonialism than any other nation, even though the job was not perfect. Truly, this demonstrates that we can and do get along and the path of peace is not an impossible one to travel.
For those interested in a gentle introduction told from the multiple perspective of Christian Colonists and Maori natives, to understand the conflict with some sound historical research, John Hinchcliff’s historical novel Parihaka is an excellent introduction, mingled with a little romantic tragedy, that adds a sweet poignancy to the bittersweet political consequence and backdrop that fuels resentment that today’s generations often remain unaware of, but at the mercy of.
I abhor discrimination in all its forms, Parihaka is a work that seeks peace and truth. It brings disparate people together and demonstrates they can get along.
You can buy Parihaka here.
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