The New Zealand Government's Response To Rua And His Community
Rua's community and it's teachings continued to impose stress and worry among the New Zealand government. As a result of this, the government and Rua's community came head to head in arguably one of the worst clashes between police and a Maori community this century.
New Zealand authorities decided to keep Rua and his community under close surveillance. This was supported and encouraged by some high profile Maori leaders such as James Caroll and Kereru. The 1907 Tohunga Supressions Act was passed which was primarily directed at Rua. This act introduced by James Caroll who expressed impatience with "what he considers regressive Maori attitudes". New Zealand officials had become unsettled with the practises of tohunga which was the act of using traditional Maori healing practises which had a supernatural or spiritual element. This act was very unsuccessful with only nine convictions every carried out, none of which were related to Rua. Rua seemed to be the subject of unnecessary acts of vengeance as a result of the constant threat of which the New Zealand government and its leaders felt in Rua's presence. The fact that Rua was never charged under the Tohunga Supressions Act was due to the meeting with Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward in March 1908. This meeting became known as the 'Ceremony of Union' amongst Rua's people as during this meeting, Rua accepted Ward's argument that there could be no separate Maori government, "There cannot be two sun's shining in the sky at one time". Despite this barrier in Rua's all important vision, Rua assumed that this agreement meant that Maori and Pakeha could share the same laws just as "they enjoyed the one sun which shone over their heads". He therefore created a flag to fly at Maungapohatu which said "One law for both peoples, Maungapohatu", Alongside this, Rua flew his own ancestral flag of Te Kooti. This would later be seen as sedition and one of the causes to the raid of Maungapohatu.
In 1915, Rua Kenana was arrested for illicitly selling alcohol at Maungapohatu. Ironically, Rua discovered that like Te Turuki, alcohol could extent his visionary and prophetic powers. Te Turki claimed 'second sight' when he was drunk and could clearly envision who was out to destroy him. The Government used the legislation to abuse Rua because of the fact that he was a driving force behind Maori anti conscription. Rua was therefore arrested on 'charges of supplying liquor at large gathering', and sentenced to a term of three months imprisonment. These charges were suspended by magistrate Robert Dyer, Dyer stated that by suspending the charges, he would "have a hold over him and be able to use the law against him at any time". Overtime, the relationship between Rua and the Europeans became increasingly more tense and dangerous. The government felt like they could not rest without Rua and his community being suppressed, therefore, they felt that immediate action had to be taken and this involved an act of force and terror in the worst clash between a Maori community and police.
The minister of police during this time was Alexander Herdman. He had the fixed belief in his mind that Rua was a 'belligerent rebel who had defied the authorities'. Herdman sent letters to Maungapohatu warning the the government 'would take immediate steps to have the law enforced' and was determined to have Rua arrested for not complying with the NZ government and supposedly 'plotting against them' . There was a huge gap between the Maori understanding and the Government's preconceptions, the government failed to recognise Maori for their beliefs and only saw them as a force of destruction and as a threat. The tragedy within the Government's response to Maungapohatu was that they purely acted on it's assumptions rather than the facts at hand. Had the key figures making the decisions not totally believed in Rua's pugnacity, they may have seen sense in Rua's actions and treated the issue at hand very differently. Instead the government acted in a very narrow minded way and refused to see any sense in Rua's ideas, therefore creating more havoc. Many historians today believe that the actions of the New Zealand police were very distasteful and immature. They overestimated the extent of Rua's beliefs and given more thought and research, the issue of Rua in relation to the views of the government could have been dealt with in a more sensible, mature matter.
John Cullen was responsible for the military - style expedition that was arranged. He believed that his actions were justified, stating that " I was entitled to go armed to a man whom I knew to be a desperado". Three police contingents were organised from Whakatane, Gisborne and Rotorua. There were also 57 constables from Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Tauranga, Napier and Whanganui. A number of journalists also accomponied the party including a reporter from the New Zealand Herald and The Auckland Weekly. The fact that this event has news coverage reinforces the scale of this event and the significance to New Zealand History. The main news organisations obviously felt like this was a big enough issue to send reporters despite the strenuous level of travel to get to Maungapohatu. Waiting on the entrance to the Marae were Rua's two eldest sons, Whatu and Toko. Rua came down to greet the two police and all three men were dressed in white shirts with bright red collars. According to the policeman Rua greeted them with "This is the bible, I'm the Holy Ghost, I am finished with you". However this is debatable due to the biased nature of the NZ police and their hostile feelings towards Rua. The police then proceeded to embark on a tour around the community with Rua, seeing Hiona, the dance hall and the meeting house. When more of the police arrived, Rua invited them for a cup of tea and asked if ten sheep would be enough to feed all the police who were coming. While waiting for the remaining police, Rua went over to speak to his people who were listening very attentively. The police were never sure of what he said, However it is claimed that he told them that should he be arrested, no one was to intervene; "Well, if you will not go inside you must not interfere, and even if I'm dragged through the dust and my face is spat on, don't interfere". This statement from Rua - whether true or not, emphasises the great deal of love he felt for his people. Rua, knew that he was to be persecuted however wanted to protect his people. This relates to the idea of Jesus Christ, who was going to be killed however, let his followers know that all was going to be ok. Rua Kenana never expected to be treated in such an unjustified manner. Rua thought that the police leader would come up to his marae and have a discussion about the situation and that the armed police would remain below as he had requested. However, Cullen on horseback demanded to know which one was Rua and beckoned to him. According to police evidence Rua took a few steps and then turned to run. He then proceeded to warn his people that the police had guns before being leapt upon and struggling down a hill. A police officer (Bill Neil) accentually dropped an axe in the struggle and Whatu picked it up and raised it at police. Rua had fallen down a bank when he was arrested and police were ordered to frog - march Rua up to the marae. As soon as Rua was lifted off the ground a shot was fired and it has been debated to this day, who fired the first shot. Two Maori people were killed in the ensuing melee, one of which being Rua's son Toko. Later on, the police clearly orchestrated that it was the Maori who fired the first shot, however the weight of the evidence supports the Maori side of the argument whereby the police fired the first shot, the matter is never likely to be resolved. When interviewed 60 years later, policeman Tom Collins described the disorganisation and ill judged actions of the NZ police in charge; "no one waited for orders everyone sailed for anyone he could get, things happened with such abruptness". Collins also revealed that "there existed a sharp conflict within the police between those who had adopted a 'conspiracy' theory to explain the events at Maungapohatu - in particular John Cullen - and those who remembered certain facts observed on the day". Some of those first hand accounts included the fact that all visible Maori on the marae were unarmed, that a feast was being prepare, and that in the end maybe two or three Maori grabbed weapons. Collins also reinforced the idea of lack of accuracy within the police's thoughts on Rua; "There was not a smell of a revolution out there, that day...it was they who wanted to make a conspiracy where none existed". The fact that the NZ government felt so much fear and hostility toward Rua and his community provoked them to act impulsively and in an unnecessarily barbaric manor.
Finally, there were consequences for the actions of the police in response to the raid of Maungapohatu.
The account of Tom Collins helped to show that the actions of police on the marae were in fact illegal. It was extremely important to the police case to show that Rua had resisted arrest, or else Cullen and the police were to be held criminally responsible. The unnecessary use of violence resulted in the deaths of two men. The court also established another flaw in the police's case. This was that under the warrants that police carried, Rua's arrest was illegal on a Sunday. This new evidence was brought out in the Supreme Court Trial - the longest in NZ's history until 1977. Arnold Butterworth, another policeman from the time, recalls the police discussing this very issue before the raid and knew about the implications that this might have. He stated that; "The arrest was illegal. We worked out that Cullen would be guilty of eleven charges from murder to manslaughter down to common assault. The death of those two men were murder; another was causing bodily harm to those that were wounded. There was assault, with intent to kill. Theres so many. There were eleven charges there, with capital punishment or very long terms of imprisonment. We worked it out when we were coming home. We wondered where we stood...". In order for the police to claim innocence they had to go beyond the idea that Rua had run off. Their claim had to include the idea that Rua planned an ambush and had organised to attack police. However, as it was established that Rua did offer some resistance to the arrest, Cullen and Cassells could not seriously be implicated. It was also discovered that some Maori were intact armed, as one of the deceased was found with a shot gun under his body, however it was not justified to have shot both Rua's son and Te Maipi dead, as they had already both sustained injuries and could have easily been captured. The description of both the Maori death's shocked both the European and Maori communities. Run's people at Maungapohatu had come to the community to get away from the influences of Pakeha and lead simple, peaceful lives where they lived religiously and kept to themselves. It was terrible that they were disturbed in such as way of violence and terror, 31 men were arrested out of the 48 who were there that day. None of the prisoners were armed giving both Maori and the the Crown reason to question why they had even been arrested in the first instance seeing it was Rua they had come for. Some would say that the NZ government and therefore the police were power hungry and wanted to show the Maori community that they could not be overruled. During a time where New Zealand society was still under development it was paramount that a statement be made and that the commonwealth be proud and recognise New Zealand as a strong country. However, as we have seen from the events which occurred at Maungapohatu, sometimes acts of power went to far and instead of sorting out differences in a civil manor, these acts were taken to the extreme. Aside from violence, there have also been claims of other forms of abuse by the police during the raid. Pinepine, claims that a $100 note was snatched from her iron cash box and some police admitted to seeing it with its lid open. A greenstone tiki and a greenstone heart were also taken as well as a list of jewellery, money and the confiscated guns. During Rua's trial, the charges of resisting arrest, the use of seditious language and counselling others to murder police. Because of the nature of Rua's arrest and the disorganisation of police, the judge dismissed the charges of resisting arrest on Maungapohatu. The jury could also not come to a decision on the charges of counselling others to murder/disarm the police, but found him guilty of 'morally' resisting arrest. With this, Rua was sentenced to one years hard labour followed by 18 months imprisonment. Eight of the jury protested against the harsh interpretation of their decisions, however the judge said that he knew that Rua had a long history of defying the law and that "as a member of a race still in tutelage, he needed to learn that the arm of the law reached every corner". This quote demonstrates to us as historians today the feelings of hostility of which the Europeans felt towards the Maori even during acts of where justice should have been served. The fact that the judge said shows us that at this point in time, Maori and Pakeha were still not on the same level in terms of fairness and unity. Today, the situation has changed and most people who are aware of what happened during this day believe that the police were at fault. It has also emerged that some of the police were not even police but prisoner's from Mt Eden Prison, this reinforces the unjustified way of which Maungapohatu was handled. Rua was so feared that the police felt that they were not strong enough to handle what they though he was. They felt as though they had to break the law to enforce the law.