Patrick Gower
History repeats for Tuhoe
Submitted by admin on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 20:00.
Summary:
It is 91 years since the unarmed Rua was arrested at Maungapohatu by an armed force of 70 constables who killed two Maori in a subsequent gunfight, the worst clash between police and a Maori community that century.
In the remote Waimana Valley, the descendants of Maori prophet Rua Kenana need no reminder of the division a police raid can have on the Tuhoe people.
It is 91 years since the unarmed Rua was arrested at Maungapohatu by an armed force of 70 constables who killed two Maori in a subsequent gunfight, the worst clash between police and a Maori community that century.
The Herald visited Rua's grave this week and found his relatives and present-day followers angry at the parallels between his treatment and that received by their tribespeople on Monday in the neighbouring Ruatoki valley.
