Moutoa Island - war in Wanganui
Peace was shattered once more on the Whanganui River in May 1864. Upriver Maori had adopted the Pai Marire (Hauhau) faith. Pai Marire divided Maori. The faith was established by the Taranaki prophet Te Ua Haumene in 1862 in response to Maori land loss. Some Maori supported it and sought to spread its message; others mistrusted its political intent and believed that it threatened the mana of individual iwi. Conflict between its supporters and opponents broke out in several parts of the North Island in the 1860s.
In May 1864 Matene Te Rangitauira of Taumarunui led an upriver party to attack Wanganui. The Putiki chiefs Hori Kingi Te Anaua and Hoani Wiremu Hipango refused their upriver cousins passage and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Hauhau at Moutoa, a small island in the Whanganui River between Hiruharama (Jerusalem) and Ranana. At least 50 Pai Marire followers were killed, as well as 15 lower-river Maori and one European, a lay brother from the nearby Catholic mission.
For Te Anaua and Hipango, protecting the European settlers of Wanganui was a secondary concern. They were reacting to what they saw as a threat to their personal mana and that of their hapu. Te Anaua had shown a similar resistance to pan-tribalism when he rejected the advances of the Kingitanga in the 1850s.
Nevertheless, the grateful European citizens of Wanganui interpreted the victory at Moutoa as a sign of the absolute loyalty of lower Whanganui River Maori. They dug deep into their pockets and commissioned a statue and flag to honour ‘loyal' Maori who had stood firm against the Pai Marire threat.
The memorial (New Zealand's first war memorial) erected in what became known as Moutoa Gardens reads:
To the memory of those brave men who fell at Moutoa 14 May 1864 in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism.
The reference to those Pai Marire followers killed as fanatics and barbarians would be the source of ongoing controversy and debate.
Prev page: The siege of Wanganui
Next page: The 1865 campaign
