Pai Marire activities - Maori leadership in the 19th century - NCEA Level 3 history

The emergence of Pai Marire 

Using the feature Pai Marire and the biographies on Te Ua Haumene and Kereopa from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website, complete the following activity.

Pai Marire was an example of Maori agency, in which aspects of European society and culture were combined with Maori needs and practices. Its references to notions of deliverance were especially attractive in this period of great change within Maori society.

To European settlers this movement was something to fear. In 1864 Governor Grey declared Pai Marire practices to be 'repugnant to all humanity' after Pai Marire followers had paraded the head of Captain Lloyd around the North Island. Pai Marire was to be suppressed by force if necessary. Some Maori agreed as they saw this new movement's pan-tribal approach as threatening the integrity of individual iwi, and civil wars broke out in resisting it.

1. Short-answer activity

Write brief answers to the following questions.

1. Describe the main features of the Hauhau faith as developed by Te Ua Haumene.
2. What were some of the key differences between Christianity and Hauhau?
3. What conditions in the early 1860s encouraged the spread of the Hauhau faith?
4. How did Te Ua's religion illustrate Maori agency?
5. What characteristics of Pai Marire would have been of greatest concern to Europeans?
6. What characteristics of Maori society would have made the spread of Pai Marire difficult?
7. Why did Pai Marire stray from its apparently peaceful origins?
8. To what extent did Pai Marire become a struggle between Maori rather than an assault on European colonialism?
9. What motives did kupapa Maori have for fighting Pai Marire?
10. What were some of the longer-term consequences of the battle of Moutoa for Whanganui River iwi?
11. Why do you think Kereopa ignored Te Ua's instructions 'not to interfere with Pakeha'?
12. How did the eating of Völkner's eyes bestow mana on Kereopa?
13. How was Kereopa able to avoid capture up until 1870?
14. Describe the circumstances surrounding Kereopa's eventual capture.
15. On what evidence was Kereopa convicted of the killing of Völkner?
16. On what grounds did William Colenso appeal unsuccessfully for clemency for Kereopa?

2. Paragraph activity

With reference to the images of the statues in Moutoa Gardens to those who fell at Moutoa and of Major Kemp, how can markers like these give a distorted view of events from the past? Use evidence to support your answer, and write no more than two paragraphs of between six to eight lines each.

3. Practice essay: examine a significant decision made by people in history, in an essay

There were a number of significant decisions made that affected New Zealand in the 19th century. One was the decision by some Maori to follow the Pai Marire movement.

Essay question

What factors led to the decision of some Maori in 19th-century New Zealand to follow the Hauhau faith? What were the consequences of this decision?

Plan your answer.

Introduction – write an opening paragraph that:

• identifies the decision you have chosen
• introduces your argument about the significance of this decision.

Body – write structured and sequenced paragraphs that:

• describe the decision to follow Pai Marire and the historical context in which that decision was made
• describe and explain factors that contributed to this decision
• evaluate the consequences of this decision
• describe and evaluate views of this decision by contemporary commentators and/or historians.

Conclusion – write a concluding paragraph that sums up your main ideas and argument and links them back to the focus of the essay.

You should aim to write about 800–1000 words.