Patricia Berwick

Power, Prejudice, Parihaka: Unbridled Power Patricia Berwick

Power, Prejudice, Parihaka is set in the new colony of New Zealand in the 1860s, 70s, and 80s. The story is centred around one event which occurred on the 5 November, 1881. On this day armed constabulary entered a small M?ori village known as Parihaka P? and forcibly arrested significant M?ori leaders. These men had been involved in a non-violent protest to regain their ancestral lands. This military act destroyed M?ori hopes for regaining what had been historical theirs. The major aim of this book is to describe a model of colonization through the patterns of activities which preceded the arrests at Parihaka. There is, however, a second aim. This is to enhance understanding of the actions of others through recognition that we are all products of our past histories, our many stories, and the fabric of our lives. In order to understand others we need first to understand the past with its many and varied intertwining narratives in which no one perspective holds the total picture.