Pai Marire (goodness and peace) was one of several Maori Christian faiths to emerge in the 19th century. Like many others, it was closely tied to issues of land and politics.
Pai Marire disciples travelled around the North Island in the mid-1860s. Against a backdrop of war and land confiscations, the founding principle of Pai Marire was often subverted by violent elements.
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.
The Pai Marire religion divided Maori. Some supported it, but others mistrusted its political intent. Events on the Whanganui River in 1864 showed the conflict about the faith among Maori.
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.
In 1862 Te Ua Haumene established a new
religion, Hauhau based on the principle of pai marire – goodness and
peace. Most settlers viewed Hauhau as a anti-European
religion that became synonymous with ‘violence, fanaticism and
barbarism’.
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.
Governor George Grey personally led a small force that captured the Pai Mārire (Hauhau) pā at Weraroa, Waitōtara. But this had long lost its strategic significance, and the small garrison had seemed willing to surrender.
A British patrol was ambushed by Pai Marire warriors near Oakura. Those killed were decapitated and their heads paraded by Pai Marire disciples to enlist recruits.
In one of their first military efforts, up to 300 Pai Marire warriors attacked a British redoubt at Te Morere (Sentry Hill) in Taranaki. Scores were killed or wounded.
