Chinese New Zealanders make special trip to Northland to honour SS Ventnor history

The Pāruru trip featured 46 Chinese New Zealanders under 35, who travelled to the Hokianga and Waitangi to learn more about the story of their ancestors lost to the SS Ventnor sinking and to thank tangata whenua for the manaaki shown to their community.

The next generation of Chinese New Zealanders spent Waitangi honouring the bond between two peoples born out of shared respect for the dead. A group of 46 Chinese New Zealanders under 35 travelled to Northland to acknowledge the 499 Chinese miners’ remains and 12 crew lost at sea after the SS Ventnor sank more than 120 years ago, and the Māori who helped in their time of need.

The Chinese New Zealanders visited the Hokianga and Waitangi from February 3-6 as part of ‘Pāruru’- a kaupapa dedicated to honouring those lost when the SS Ventnor sank west of the Hokianga Harbour in 1902.

The trip was a first for the group. They were hosted by Te Roroa and Te Rarawa hapū (Te Tao Māui and Te Hokokeha) at key sites across the Hokianga, as well as returning a pou whenua gifted to the New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) by local Hokianga leaders at the unveiling of the SS Ventnor memorial at Manea Footprints of Kupe in 2014.

The exhumed remains of the Chinese gold miners had been on their way to their home villages for burial when the vessel sank but, according to Chinese tradition, with the bodies lost and no graves for families to tend to, their spirits risked wandering forever in the afterlife.

Many of the remains washed up along the coast where they were found by people of Te Roroa and Te Rarawa, who buried them alongside their own dead and took care of them until the Chinese community came to find them.

Pāruru (which translates as ‘A Place of Shelter’) was helped organised by young Chinese New Zealander Erica Blundell who was struck by the story of the SS Ventnor last February.

“The trip itself has been powerful and emotional, especially when we visited certain sites where the mana whenua stepped back and allowed us to feel that we have a place that we can take up space - that was really overwhelming,” Blundell said.

Pāruru organising committee member Erica Blundell and Sidney Gig-Jan Wong at Waitangi Day in Waitangi. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

Blundell said discussions with other young Chinese New Zealanders had revealed a yearning to explore their individual and collective identities, including what it meant to be Tangata Tiriti framed outside of the mainstream bi-cultural lens.

Sidney Gig-Jan Wong took part in Pāruru and has whakapapa to the counties and villages of Szeyap, Tungkwoon, and Fatsaan, with familial connections to Macau and Hong Kong.

Wong felt many Chinese New Zealanders struggled to feel a sense of place in Aotearoa and had grown accustomed to hiding their language, culture and heritage.

“Growing up hearing about Te Tiriti, I didn’t feel like we were part of the story, but after having this experience, I feel very grounded and affirmed in my heritage.”

Te Roroa general manager Snow Tane felt the honouring of one’s dead among Māori and Chinese had bonded the two cultures.

The SS Ventnor sank in the Hokianga Heads in 1902. Photo / Auckland Library

His grandfather was one of the people to find around 23 kōiwi, which he then uplifted and buried.

“It’s just part and parcel of our culture, to manaaki the dead because they are special and we need to remember them, no matter who they are, we must treat them with respect.”

Tane said now was a good time for the next generation to learn the story of the SS Ventnor to ensure the memories lived on long into the future.

Max Lloydd, operations manager Manea Footprints of Kupe, said they were extremely proud to a part in enabling the relationship between the cultures to flourish.