Te Whiti-O-Rongomai was born in 1830 at Ngamotu, Taranaki. Te Whiti was in the turmoil of the Musket wars .Te Whiti was educated at Reminschinders missionary school in Warea. His best subject was bible studies. His farther ( Tohukakahi ) was a minor chief.Te Whiti set up a flour mill once he left school in Warea. He lived peacefully on the coast of Parihaka untill he was 35.Te Whiti was a spiritual teacher.
by 1870 Parihaka had the biggest population in all of New Zealand. The Europeans burnt down Te Whiti’s village leaving nothing left no crops, no animals, nothing.Then in 1881 Europeans began taking maori land and brutally hurt the men and raped the women unfairly. Te Whiti ran meetings on the 18th of each month about the progress of the Parihaka movement. Te Whiti wanted to stop the meetings because he believed in peace and none violence but because he wanted to stop he was assaulted and put in jail, which is very mean and unfair.
A few days before Te Whiti got released from jail his wife died. Te Whiti was not allowed to go back to his land or attend his wife’s funeral to say good bye.The families of the other men in jail often died because of the poor conditions they were living in while trying to save there loved ones.Te Whitis time in prison was not all too bad as he learnt how to use European technology.Te Whiti kept protesting in peace but for this he was imprisoned again for six months.
Sadly Te Whiti died from old ageon the 18th of November in 1907.Te Whiti will never be forgotten and his change to Parihaka will live on forever.
Te Whiti is very insertional because he did not believe in violence and stood up for his village untill his death.He has changed 100’s of peoples lives for the better.
by, Monica Sullivan
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