The painful history of 74 Pātea Māori held as political prisoners in Dunedin

(From left) Jacq Dwyer, Darren Ngarewa and Jim Baker are behind a new book about South Taranaki Māori sent to Dunedin as prisoners between 1869 and 1881. Photo / Bevan Conley

"Blood, sweat, tears. That's Pakakohi," Darren Ngarewa's grandfather told him - and he would say no more.

The painful history of 74 Pātea Māori held in Dunedin for two years as political prisoners is the subject of a new book published by the Pātea Historical Society. It also tells parts of the more well-known Parihaka story.

"The book is quite sad to read, from any perspective," president Jacq Dwyer said.

The book is Salutary Punishment: Taranaki Māori Prisoners in Dunedin, 1869-72 and 1879-81. It was written by Ian Church, a researcher who taught social studies at Pātea High School from 1974-83, was later a Whanganui Museum archivist, then continued researching the stories while living in Dunedin.

He died in 2013, leaving the manuscript with his sister, Pat Greer, who was keen to see it published.

The two sets of prisoners were men who either resisted, or were thought to have resisted, the taking of their land for European settlers.

The Pakakohi people were from the area around Pātea. Some fought over disputed land purchases in their area between 1860 and 1865. Then, in 1868, Ngā Ruahine leader Tītokowaru began his offensive across South Taranaki, heading for the military town of Whanganui.

By that time Pakakohi had been influenced by Christianity and were trading and interacting with the settlers.

Some allied with Tītokowaru, while others, like Pakakohi leader Ngawaka Taurua, kept his distance. But Tītokowaru's campaign forced people to choose between kin and queen, and most went with him.

After his retreat, his allies were hunted men, and the colonial government sent troops up the region's rivers to flush out the "rebels". Taurua and his people were found at Kuranui Pā on the Pātea River.

A total of 233 Pakakohi surrendered, and 96 men were sent to Wellington, where they were housed for three months in a prison hulk in the harbour, waiting for trial.

Twenty-nine of them were acquitted and the rest found guilty of high treason, with 12 leaders sentenced to seven years and another 62 men to three years. They were sent to jail in Dunedin on the steamer

Rangatira

.

A "Salutary Punishment" is what Lieutenant-Colonel St John called the prisoners' treatment in 1873. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Otago Daily Times reported that crowds lined the Dunedin wharf to see the "ferocious rebels" arrive. The prisoners they saw were a mix of very young and very old men, and appeared "thoroughly cowed".

They put on prison uniform and the able-bodied were put to work six days a week, making roads, breaking rocks and building gardens. They found Dunedin very cold.

They had their own dormitories at the prison and a diet of porridge, bread, meat and potatoes.

Some of the men were old or ill when taken prisoner. They were allowed to busy themselves with other work around the prison, and 18 died while in Dunedin. Some had tuberculosis and were cared for in the prison hospital.

"Most of them were ill before they went, and old. They should never have been sent," Jim Baker said.

The unmarked graves of 17 have been found, and a monument to them in Dunedin's Southern Cemetery was unveiled in 2011.

The prisoners were "well-behaved, industrious and strongly attached to Taurua", who told them good behaviour might get them early release. They attended church services and were given some greenstone, so used their spare time to make taonga.

The Reverend Richard Taylor and Te Rangihiwinui Keepa (Major Kemp) petitioned the government to set them free, although some Pātea people reportedly didn't want them back.

"We advise the settlers to stand fast by their rifles and the first cannibal that returns to force him back or lay him low," a Wanganui Herald article said.

But in March 1872, all the prisoners were released, having served two years and four months. Eventually they were given land in the same general area to live on, and went back to growing grain and potatoes, fishing and harvesting flax.

In a speech made after their return, Taurua said it had been folly to resist the settlers - they had lost the land they had loved and reduced their once-strong tribe. By 1875, the visiting Reverend Abraham Honore found most were "destroying themselves with strong drink".

It seemed "to be the only solace in the bitterness they felt in the loss of land and relatives in the war", another reverend wrote. Many Pakakohi moved away.

Some went to Parihaka, where the next resistance to land loss was happening. Taurua's group attained some stability, and he built several churches, including Tūtahi at Nukumaru, in 1883.

When author Ian Church lived in Pātea from 1974-83, this slice of history was seldom spoken of. A descendant of the prisoners, Darren Ngarewa, only came across mention of it as a 15-year-old schoolboy.

He asked his grandfather John Heremaia about the Pakahohi story but Heremaia, born in 1901 and the son of one of the prisoners, would say little.

Now Ngarewa, Dwyer and Baker say it's time the story came out of the shadows. They hope lots of people will read the book.

"Hopefully it will lay to rest any untruths," Baker said.

Ngarewa likes the vision Taurua had, in his time, of peace and reconciliation between Europeans and Māori.

"That's how I find my way to be able to carry on what I'm doing. We are going to be mixing a lot more," he said.

People will feel differently about a lot of things when they have read the story, Dwyer predicts.

"I think this will dispel a lot of the ignorance between Pākehā and Māori. We must look back in order to move forward."

• Pātea Historical Society published 500 copies of the book, which lists the names of all the prisoners. They cost $35 each and can be bought at Aotea Utanganui - The Museum of South Taranaki in Pātea or from Jacq Dwyer, ph 027 241 5595 or email jacq@dwyer.co.nz.