CHIEF AND PROPHET.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 47, 19 November 1907, Page 6

CHIEF AND PROPHET.

DEATH OF TE WHITI. AN INTERESTING CAREER. (by TELEGRAM—rRKSS ASSOCLATIOX.) , Hawera, November 18. To Whiti, the celebrated Maori chief, diod at Parihaka this morning, aged seventy-eight years. He had tjeen ailmg some time. ELii declining influence is due to the activity of the Young Maori Party, Of late he seemed disappointed, and it is stated that ho died of a broken heart. A great tangi has set m, and natives from all parts are making towards Parihaka. The funeral will probably take place about Friday. PROPHECIES THAT DID-NOT'COME TRUE. ' ■ (pY TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL * CORRESPONDENT.) New. Plymouth, November 18. Once again has. faith in the prophecies. of To Whiti, the great Maori prophet,been' rudely dispelled, this-time for ever. It will: be remembered that To Whiti' prophesied; that King Edward VII " would never bo': crowned King of. England, and when' the coronation ceremony was postponed, oti ao-. count of His Majesty's- illness-.there wa» groat jubilation, amongst' the followers of the uusky seer. But fates were against him. For a quarter of a century he prophesied .th« ■ coming , of a great day when . the - tyfaorii would be reinstated on the land taken from : them by the pakeha, and that; he himself; would live to • see, that day. In fact, it r a asserted, that he-led his followers to believ*.that ho would never die,-but once again his prophecy is unfulfilled, and. great. T# Whiti, perhaps the best-known Maori ;of modern times, has - passed over to -his forofathers. < . . TE WHITI'S LIFE) STORY. Hie[ career is well worth recounting. '!'« Whiti, prophet and rangatira, was tie son of John Kakahi, a noted Ngatiawa chief, and grandson of Te Whiti Orongbmai. Jdo was born at Ngamohi, near New Plymouth, throe days after his father had been killed in the battle of Pukerangiora in 1831. His mother, Rangi Kawau, was a daughter of To Whotu, a Tarariaki chief. Soon after tho Pukerangiora incident, when a horribla slaughter took place owing to the attempt of the famished garrison to escape during daylight, Te Whiti was taken b.v'his motherta Waikanae, arid returned to faranaki withWaikanae natives, and stayed for-some>years at Otamatua, near Pihama, in the Opunaka/ district. He then went to Warea. Ho paid a visit to Wellington after the first war, and it was principally'his influence that saved tho passengers "of the ship lord Worsley. at Te Ivamu in 1862. To'Whiti,. with his late colleague, and latterly his rival, Tohu, were pupils of a. • German 1 •• missionary, Reimenschneider, and ■: were ' taught tho principles of. Christianity at tho Warea . mission • station. Very soon they became too clover■; for; their instructor, and - announced that ; they were - capable of going out-on their own account to-preach the now doctrine.

THE NEW DOCTRINE.; ~

That was' where: the • trouble . commenced. This new doctrine had as its principal 'motto, "No more bloodshed," and .its watchword "Peace to all mankind.'' Religion and passive resistance were to go hand in hand to attain the object in View. Parihaka was the place .selected by the prophets for preaching this new faith after having ben turned from the other villages, .and there the doctrine hoi been preached, through all the years up to the present day. It had a remarkable influence over the Mawis, because one of the tenets of the new religion waß that the " day of reckoning " was at hand when the'white man would do dispossessed of the -soil of New Zealand, which was theirs only by conquest, arid it would be reinherited by the Maori'as the original discoverers. • On that day •' rf reckoning a . great' exodus of .the- pakeha would take place, and the prophets directe.l that a fund lie collected and set aside foi use on that eventful day, and the collection of it Tohu and Te Whiti went on till'lß9o. A DISPUTE; The leaders had a dispute .as to- the disposal or partition ,of the fund. The exact nature .of the trouble never, transpired, but from that day Tohu and.Te Whiti were never more seen to speak together",though they, of course, held' forth in the great marae or square in the centre, of the village when matters iof moment were discussed; but always Te Whiti spoke first, Tohu following. A few years ago, upon discovery that the Colonial Bank notes were no i longer in circulation ,tho whole hoard of tribute, now amounting it is said to somewhere about £30,000 was changed to gold currency.

TREASURE TROVE. ' This treasure trovo. is treated by. the Maoris 'as a sacred thing, a.-id guarded religiously, and reverently, by. two old'bankers, Tiriwa and Manuawa. But ivith the passing of Tohu- the- waning influence of; Earishaka seemed to hasten to its ,dliwrifall,, and on Sunday, the day. when in, past jrears' Parihaka'would have: been thronged with visiters, to listen to the exhortatjonj and teachings of 'these remarkable men, not one Maori visitor claimed the hospitality/ sf the pah. Two European's were there on'business fr.om- New Plymouth j and . ono of 'these told ', me the story this'afternoon! Upon Arrival they put -up as usual at the house "of. Taare 'Waitara, husband' of.. Perene, daughter of Te Whiti. Te Whiti was there. After the. usual'salutatiqns (for mv informant is a frequent yisitor at: Parihaka) he remarked that, there 'Were very few Maoris in the village.' The'old man sighed and, shook' his • head despairingly, "ics," he said, "tho only two, visitors we get to-day are'you two pasehas." During the afternoon, Te Whiti wps a little restless and peculiar, but took" bread; as usual and fed his pigeons from the verandah. In the oyeiiing he retired to his' OK'h sitting-room, but passed a/restless night. About half past three o'cldck there' was -'a commbtron in the hmise, and .at 5.30 p.m. the spirit 'of 'the great chief had-':gone over 1 to the .Great Beyond. ' , THE TAN'GI. ' . • Even now the pilgrimage of mourners has commenced, and Maoris in small; knots are passing through perhaps on their last Parihaka pilgrimage, • for- n6 'successor ' is likely- to be appointed. No Maori hSs the mana or igfluen'co to draw and'hold , the tribes' together as this , groat old man- has done, principally by , his remarkable know--ledge of the Scriptures, basing' his teachings upon the Old-Testament. - His son-in-law. was seen to-day, and' he inclined to' the belief that" the Parihaka influence was broken. There would be no successor to To Whiti, and tho communal system- was at,.an, end. The.prophet's son has scarcely any influence, and farms land some distance,-away. Already the. village is draped;. arid decorated- with green twigs and boughs, signs of mourning; The.-body., lies in state iu tho great meeting house where so many times ho harangued groat crowds , with his impassioned utter? ances.., ~ - - \ , THE. PARIHAKA, TROUBLES!' I have, left to tho last what aro locally known as the Parihaka troubles. ... It. was during tho Hon. Mr. Bryce's term. of., office as.Minister for Native Affairs.in r 1881 that the Parihaka troubles commenced. To Whiti' had. allowed to become a-sort of refuge for all the dissatisfied and rebellious Maoris of Now Zealand. As a punishment for participating in the rebellion, lands wero confiscated, but Te Whiti collected a largo assemblage of natives at his pa, and did not hesitato to demand back tho lands thus taken. Mr. Bryce decided hot to bo trifled with. After tho Maoris had ploughed up the settlers' grass lands, and ordered them. off the farms, Mr. Bryce called for volunteers. A band of men wrs got together, 1300 strong, and on October 31, 1851, they marched on to Parihaka. -Te whiti had ne doubt been informed of the »ficctir« force surrounding him, and decided on' a Nonbelligerent policy. Major ,Tnke, Captain Gudgeon, and Captain Newall entered the sacred square, and oalled on Te Whiti to surrender. The old prophet replied: "lam hero. If you want me, walk over my young men's bodies." He was surrounded by Maoris lying on the ground all around him. Tc Whiti was there and then arrested, ajid the chief Tohu,' whose death occurred some mouths' ago, gave himself up. Te Whiti and Tohu were sent to Wellington, and afterwards convoyed to Lyttclton in the Government steamer Hinemoa. Te Whiti was a man of about oft. lOin. high, and weighed at the time of his arrest about thirteen stone.