Parihaka was a maori settlement in Taranaki around the 1860s when New Zealand was a british colony, and land was being divided up and given to the European settlers. Maori leaders Te whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi
encouraged the people to defend their land by peaceful methods.
Unbeknown to them, such actions caused them to forfeit their rights to land retained by them through the Treaty of Waitangi…. Land confiscation was a major issue following the Treaty of Waitangi and in the lead up to the invasion of Parihaka .
The population of the village grew to more than 2000,attracting Māori who had been dispossessed of their land by confiscations and impressing European visitors with its cleanliness and industry, and its extensive cultivations producing cash crops as well as food sufficient to feed its inhabitants.
