At 9 am on 21 February, the Pompallier bell rang out over lush Waipa farmland. It called the descendants of Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Hinetū, representatives from the Catholic and Anglican Churches, school children, local body, and government officials, to gather in prayer and commemorate the invasion of the peaceful village of Rangiaowhia in 1864.
Rangiaowhia, situated between Cambridge and Te Awamutu, has a special place in the history of both the Anglican and Catholic communities of the Waikato. The centre of the Waikato Catholic mission from 1844 until 21 February 1864, Rangiaowhia was a thriving and prosperous village of over 5000 people. From Rangiaowhia, Ngāti Apakura and Ngāti Hinetū provided the Auckland and Australian markets with fresh produce, wheat, and flour from four mills in the area. Māori and Pākehā lived side by side, sharing languages, trade, education, and religion. Rangiaowhia was an indication of what the future of Aotearoa New Zealand might have been like. It ‘was a source of Māori pride and European envy,’ but it was ‘coveted by Auckland’s merchants and settlers alike.’
In February 1864, the village paid the ultimate price of its success when it was invaded by the Crown, determined to destroy the Kingitanga movement. At dawn on 21 February, over 1000 troops and cavalry attacked the village. Many people were killed, including some who sheltered in a whare karakia (raupo church), which was set on fire by the soldiers. Others were taken prisoner. Those who survived the attack fled, and the land confiscated by the Crown.
The 2020 commemoration began at dawn with karakia (prayer) led by kaūmatua Tom Roa (Ngāti Apakura), overlooking a paddock where women and children died in the burning church. Roa asked the people to keep the women and children as the focus of the day and called on all to meet in ‘a spirit of reconciliation, a spirit of remembrance, that [Rangiaowhia] was a place that was starting to realise the potential, the promise of the Treaty of Waitangi.’ As a result of the invasion, Ngāti Apakura and Ngāti Hinetū have no home. They have marae, but on land gifted by Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Hikairo, and Ngāti Tuwharetoa. Roa hoped that when redress for the invasion happens, descendants will be able to rebuild a home to which they can whakapapa - ‘it will be our cradle.’
Following a liturgy of remembrance led by Bishop Steve Lowe, school students spoke about the invasion. Libby Kearins-Te Whare, Helena Shearer, Ngahuia Salmond, Ebony Phillips and Zoe Rawles from St Joseph’s Catholic School, Te Kuiti, read a very moving account of the invasion by Moepatu Borell (Ngati Apakura). Dedicated to the children of Rangiaowhia and written from the point of view of a child who survived the attack, the story was inspired by Borell’s grand-daughter, who having heard of the prosperity of Ngāti Apakura and the invasion said:
“But nana, why don’t they teach us this at school?”
“You must tell the children,… you must let them know!”
Senior students from Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Hamilton, highlighted the ways the invasion of Rangiaowhia broke the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi, including the fourth, unwritten article on freedom of religion. At the end of their presentation they challenged the Crown to redress the wrong that was inflicted on Ngāti Apakura and Ngāti Hinetū.
After lunch, descendants of women who survived the attack spoke about their tupuna. How Rahapa Te Hauata wrote to Governor George Grey recounting how the soldiers stole her food, animals and even her children’s clothing. She lamented that: ‘all Rangiaowhia is to be given to strange Europeans in our place. Where is them, O Governor, the land for us to cultivate, and grow food on for me and my children? I do not believe that you would let me die for want of land to grow food upon, that is the reason I now cry to you.’
The attack on Rangiaowhia is often included in overall accounts of the conflict in the Waikato. But this was not a battle between armed combatants. Rangiaowhia was not a palisaded defence pa, it was an undefended peaceful village where the women, old people and children had been sent for their protection. The Crown used over 1000 troops to invade an undefended village where it knew people were sent for security. Roa reminded the people that ‘knowing the stories of our past, sharing the memories passed down by our tupuna will help us understand who we are as New Zealanders.’
Note: The commemoration was attended by hundreds of students from: St Columba’s, Frankton; St Peter’s Catholic School, Cambridge; St Patrick’s, Te Awamutu; Bishop Edward Gaines School, Tokoroa; Marian Catholic School, Hamilton; Sacred Heart Catholic Girls’ College, Hamilton; St John’s Catholic College, Hamilton.
The Pompallier bell was gifted to the Holy Angels Mission, Rangiaowhia by Bishop Pompallier. It was an “observer” to the invasion and is now kept at St Patrick’s Catholic School, Te Awamutu.
