The ritual killing by Pai Marire followers of missionary Carl Völkner in 1865 shocked many people. The government used the event as a reason to take harsh action against Pai Marire in general.
This memorial obelisk commemorates unnamed men who were killed in action or died of wounds received in and around Opotiki during the New Zealand Wars. Six men known to be buried at Kelly Street are commemorated on a memorial tablet.
On
2 March 1865 Carl Völkner, a German-born missionary, was hanged from
a willow tree near his church at Opotiki. His death was attributed to the
followers of a new religion, Pai Marire, who suspected Völkner of spying for
the government.
The Te Whakatohea chief, Mokomoko was one of five Maori executed on May 17 for being implicated in the murder of the missionary Carl Volkner at Opotiki in 1865. The government punished Te Whakatohea further for Volkner's death by confiscating of much of Te Whakatohea 's land.
