Te Whiti o Rongomai was born in the 1880s near Ngamotu, Taranaki. Te Whiti was the son of a minor chief of the Ngatai Tawhirikura branch. Te Whiti was educated at Reimenschneiders Mission School. He was excellent at bible studies. After he left school he set up a flour mill in Warea. Te Whiti and his family lived on the coast of Parihaka until 1865.
Te Whiti was a very spiritual man. He preached Christian beliefs. He didn’t believe in violence and was a very peaceful man.
By 1870 Parihaka was the biggest village in the country. Parihaka was a very peaceful place until 1879 when the Europeans invaded their land. When the Europeans were taking away the Maoris Te Whiti and Tohu stood up for their village and people, but were imprisoned afterwards. While Te Whiti was imprisoned he learnt how to use European technology and played mind games on the gaurds like putting sugar in their soup and salt in their porridge.
In 1883 Te Whiti was taken back to Parihaka, but refused an order from the soldiers to stop running the monthly meetings. For not obeying this order Te Whiti was taken back to prison a few days before Te Whiti was released his wife died and was not allowed to attend the funreal. After being released Te Whiti returned home. Parihaka is now a very nice place up by Tarinake with lighting, running water and drainage. Sadly Te Whiti died in 1907.
Te Whiti was a very inspirational person to me because he fought with no weapons and peacefully. He didn’t give up and got imprisoned twice. The first time he was imprisoned and was released and he still fought back at the Europeans.
By Troy
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