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Otago Daily Times

History never repeats, but it does become more complicated

As New Zealanders, the more intermarried we become, it seems the more complicated our histories also become. My wife's ancestors came to New Zealand because a family member was in the British army fighting in the land wars. I often wonder if there was a time when my family were in battle with her family. Thankfully our relations are much better. Last week was the 162nd anniversary of the British invasion of the Waikato. It was a pre-emptive strike because some of the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi had suggested attacking the settlers in Auckland. My father was born in the Waikato and belonged to both Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato hapū. One of his ancestors, Wiremu Patene, had written to a missionary friend and mentioned some of the Ngāti Maniapoto rhetoric that advocated for an attack on Auckland. For those interested in the geography, Ngāti Maniapoto country begins 150km south of Auckland, and so an attack was very unlikely to have been attempted. However, in between were the fertile lands of the Waikato tribes that the British were very interested in. Patene's letter was taken to Governor Grey who, a few days later, used it as part of his justification to set the invasion of the Waikato in motion. While some may want to blame my ancestor, the truth is that the British had been looking for an excuse to invade the Waikato and break up the Kingitanga movement for months. They had been gathering regiments and supplies in Auckland and were only waiting for the pretext. In my fantasies I used to think that if only the tribes had done things differently, we might have beaten the British or at least held them up until joined by other tribes in defence of our homeland. It wasn't until I read an account of a similar campaign of Lord Kitchener's conquest of Sudan that I realised we never had a chance. Though the conflict was much smaller, there were strong parallels between Waikato and the invasion of Sudan. Competent generals focused on creating and protecting supply lines with the use of armed river boats meant that the outcomes in both conflicts were a foregone conclusion; certainly in the Waikato anyway. The British stopped when they got to Ngāti Maniapoto territory, possibly because the hills, forests and valleys were well suited for guerrilla warfare, but also because the fertile plains of the Waikato region were enough to sate the desires of the settlers for a while. Some may say to me "Why bring this up? It was over a hundred years ago, you lost, get over it". My reply would be that we could say the same thing about Anzac Day and the Gallipoli campaign. That also was over 100 years ago, we lost, and I don't think there are any of us who would appreciate being told to "get over it". Coincidentally, on the anniversary of the British invasion I was talking about New Zealand history to one of my Pākehā nephews. As I was telling him about some of the history of the area where he was raised, he got animated and very excited and asked "why wasn't I told about this history in school?" Perhaps because it was believed that history was something that happened somewhere else. Part of the problem with telling our histories is that there are vested interests trying to protect their myths. Some of the older generation of Pākehā that were brought up on the glories of the "benevolent" British Empire, have constantly fought against narratives that question the motives of their ancestors. Many had come to this country with very little and worked hard to forge successful lives. There are some who are unhappy about New Zealand history being taught in schools because they think it brings disunity, particularly if someone is descended from a person portrayed as the bad guy in the story. Some want to reduce Māori to bloodthirsty savages and some Māori want to reduce Pākehā to genocidal swindlers. I have ancestors who did noble selfless things during the land wars, protecting both Māori and Pākehā non-combatants, as well as ancestors who were part of groups that committed atrocities. One ancestor did both. True history is often far more complex than just goodies and baddies. The more we learn the more nuance appears. A good history will tell you why things happened and the context around it, not just what happened. Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian, insisted on accuracy in historical accounts to remind us that what we can learn from history is that human nature changes very little. Our country has great stories. New Zealand history is entertaining and interesting, especially when it tells us something about ourselves and why our society is the way that it is. — Dr Anaru Eketone is an associate professor in the University of Otago's social and community work programme.