Land wars left many struggling
The land on which Morrinsville was established in the 1870s could have been, and with the wisdom of hindsight, should have been returned to the original owners following the Waikato Land Wars of the early 1860s.
One of the defenders of Waikato who knew what to expect from the colonial regiments, was Tarapipipi Te Waharoa who had fought with his Ngati Haua people alongside Rewi Maniapoto. He was also known by his baptismal name William Thompson and by the Maori translation of that name Wirimu Tamehana.
His people had been severely mauled in the Waikato War and were struggling to recover on their lands surrounding their main stronghold at Maungatautari and at Taukoro not far from where Morrinsville stands today.
In the immediate aftermath of the wars Whakatohea and other East Coast tribes turned on missionaries who they knew had betrayed them to the British army.
The violent death of one of the missionaries, Rev Carl Volkner, at the hands of the Pai Marire prophet Kereopa Te Hau, in March 1865, created uproar within the European community.
There were strident demands to bring Volkner’s killers to justice and for the destruction of the Pai Marire Movement, or Hau Hau fanatics as they had become known.
Europeans saw Volkner’s death as the brutal murder of an innocent clergyman, a class of people in European society and culture usually treated with respect and deference. Maori on the other hand, even those who had sided with the British during the Waikato Land War, saw his death as the justifiable execution of a traitor and spy.
They were also in no doubt that his killers would be mercilessly hunted down and subjected to the equally brutal Pakeha system of justice if caught.
While the Lutheran missionary had been killed by followers of the Pai Marire philosophy, experience had taught Maori that any one remotely associated with the event, or even known or related to the killers was likely to be treated as an offender.
Adding to their concern was the gradual withdrawal of professional British army regiments to be replaced by ill- disciplined colonial volunteer forces.
These new regiments were made up of Pakeha civilians, Maori who had fought with the British in Taranaki and Waikato and soldiers who had resigned from the British army.
Many of these retired soldiers had been awarded land as part of their conditions of service; land confiscated from Waikato Maori and land which they had yet to be able occupy. For them, driving the Maori survivors of the Waikato campaign from the region in the search for Volkner’s killers and the Pai Marire insurgents would clear the way for farms to be surveyed and developed.
It would also be an opportunity for Maori soldiers in the colonial regiments to pursue ancient tribal grievances.
Tarapipipi however had rejected the teachings of Pai Marire and wanted to be left in peace on what was left of his tribal lands after the confiscations.
He knew the surveyors would eventually arrive and take the best of his land for Pakeha settlers and the last thing he wanted was to be caught up in the aftermath of Volkner’s death.
Tarapipipi had in fact been a staunch supporter of the missionaries and had tried hard to avoid getting involved in the Waikato wars.
He was not imprisoned or charged with rebellion and in July 1865, he was formerly received by the Government in Wellington to hear his case for the wrongful confiscation of Ngati Haua tribal lands. He told the hearing that he was not ‘‘a man of murder’’ and had not sought the war in Waikato. He had only fought in defence of himself, his people and his lands. ‘‘When the soldiers ceased to fight Maori also stopped fighting’’.
His plea was politely declined and he returned to Maungatautari in ill health and died about a year later but Ngati Haua have persisted with their claim for the return of wrongfully confiscated lands or compensation to the present day.
The people of Whakatohea, some of whom had been directly involved in the killing of Volkner however, were treated very differently.
Only a few of the tribe had adopted Pai Marire teachings but the entire community was held to account.
In September 1865 the Whanganui and Patea Rangers, Taranaki Military Settlers the Wanganui Cavalry and a fighting contingent of Ngati Hau were sent to the East Coast of the North Island to hunt down Volkner’s killers and destroy the dreaded Hau Hau.
The European forces were under the command of Majors Brassey and Thomas McDonnell while the Ngati Hau were led by Kepa Te Rangihiwinui who had also been given the rank of major. Between them they commanded a force of 500 well armed but ill-disciplined men.
They looted villages, stole livestock, killed anyone who protested or opposed them and generally acted like bandits. Their actions shattered the delicate peace negotiated by Tarapipipi and the Government and eventually brought war and killing northwards into Waikato again.