The Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was a

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

religion founded in

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

by the prophet

Te Ua Haumēne Te Ua Haumēne was a New Zealand Māori religious leader during the 1860s. He founded the Pai Mārire movement, which became hostile and engaged in military conflict against the New Zealand government during the Second Taranaki War and the East C ...

. It flourished in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

from about 1863 to 1874. Pai Mārire incorporated

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from '

pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

' (British) domination. Although founded with peaceful motives—its name means "Good and Peaceful"—Pai Mārire became known for an extremist form of the religion known to the Europeans as "Hauhau".Paul Clark, "Hauhau: The Pai Marire Search for Maori Identity," (1975) as cited by Belich in "The New Zealand Wars" (1986), chapter 11. The rise and spread of the violent expression of Pai Mārire was largely a response to the New Zealand Government's military operations against North Island Māori, which were aimed at exerting European sovereignty and gaining more land for white settlement; historian B.J. Dalton claims that after 1865 Māori in arms were almost invariably termed Hauhau. Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

launched a campaign of suppression against the religion in April 1865, culminating in the raiding of dozens of villages in

and on the East Coast and the arrest of more than 400 adherents, most of whom where incarcerated on the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

. Elements of the religion were incorporated in the

Ringatū The Ringatū church was founded in 1868 by Te Kooti Arikirangi te Turuki, commonly called Te Kooti. The symbol for the movement is an upraised hand or "Ringatū" in Māori. Origins Te Kooti was a wild young man, and in his childhood his father h ...

or "Raised hand" religion formed in 1868 by

Te Kooti Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...

, who escaped from incarceration on the Chatham Islands. In the

2006 New Zealand census The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...

, 609 people identified "Hauhau" as their religion.

Rise of the prophet

was born in Taranaki, New Zealand, in the early 1820s. He and his mother were captured and enslaved by a rival tribe in 1826. He learned to read and write in Māori while in captivity and began studying the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. He was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

by the Rev John Whiteley in the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

mission at

Kawhia Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwe ...

in 1834 and given the name of Horopapera Tuwhakararo, a transliteration of the name John

Zerubbabel According to the biblical narrative, Zerubbabel, ; la, Zorobabel; Akkadian: 𒆰𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 ''Zērubābili'' was a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. Zerubbab ...

. He later returned to Taranaki. During the 1850s he became a supporter of the

King Movement King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, which opposed further expansion of European sovereignty and the sale of land to European settlers, and in the 1860s fought against colonial forces in the

First Taranaki War The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori people, Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North ...

and Waikato War, in which he also acted as a chaplain to the Māori soldiers. By the early 1860s Te Ua was part of a ''runanga'' (local board of management), which administered local government and also ensured that the boundary of the land that was covered by the ''

mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

'' of the Māori King was undisturbed. By then the cornerstones of Te Ua's religious teaching were set. He believed Māori had a right to defend the boundaries of their territory; believed in national salvation of the Māori from the white settlers; and suspected that missionaries were aiding and abetting the loss of Māori land. The elevation of Te Ua to the role of prophet followed an incident in September 1862 in which the British steamer ''Lord Worsley'' was wrecked off the Taranaki coast and local Māori debated what action should be taken with the cargo and crew. Te Ua – then living at Wereroa Pā, near Waitotara – argued that goods salvaged from the vessel should be sent to

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

untouched, but was ignored and the cargo was instead plundered. On 5 September, aggrieved over what had taken place, he claimed to have experienced a vision in which the

Archangel Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

announced to him that the last days of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

were at hand and that God had chosen him as a prophet who would cast out the Pākehā and restore Israel (the Māori) to their birthright in the land of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

(Aotearoa/New Zealand) - adding a religious aspect to the issue of Māori independence, which had until then been a purely political movement.S. Barton Babbage, "Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866", chapter 1. A.H & A.W. Reed, Dunedin, 1937
/ref> There are conflicting reports over Te Ua's response to the vision: he is claimed to have killed his child, explaining in a letter circulated to tribes that it was as a redemption for his people, "forgetful, desolate and in doubt"., while there are also claims he broke the child's leg and healed it miraculously. As reports about Te Ua began to circulate, he quickly gained a reputation for having other miraculous powers. The view among settlers was less sympathetic: Bishop William Williams claimed Te Ua showed strong signs of insanity and colonial soldier and historian

T. W. Gudgeon Walter Edward Gudgeon (4 September 1841 – 5 January 1920) was a farmer, soldier, historian, land court judge, and colonial administrator. Early life Born in London, Walter Gudgeon was the first child of Thomas Wayth Gudgeon, an upholsterer, ...

claimed he had been thus far regarded as a "harmless lunatic" of "weak intellect, but yet of peaceful disposition".

Formation and spread of the religion

Te Ua began to formulate his new religion, complete with a holy book, ''Ua Rongo Pai'' (the Gospel according to Ua) which combined elements of

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

morality, Christian doctrine and traditional Māori religion. Its goal was to create a peaceful society in which righteousness and justice prevailed. They believed they were a second Chosen People and that, with divine aid, they would regain control of their hereditary land when the Creator,

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

, fought for them and drove the English into the sea.S. Barton Babbage, "Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866", chapter 2. A.H & A.W. Reed, Dunedin, 1937
/ref> To help him propagate the religion, Te Ua chose three men – Tahutaki, Hepenaia and Wi Parara. The embracing of the religion by some Māori also signalled a rejection of Christianity and a distrust of missionaries over their involvement in land purchases.
/ref> The religion gained widespread support among North Island Māori and became closely associated with the

Māori King Movement The Māori King Movement, called the in Māori, is a movement that arose among some of the Māori (tribes) of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the British c ...

, but also became the cause of deep concern among European settlers as it welded tribes in opposition to the PākehāJames Cowan, The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Vol II, Chapter 1, 1922
/ref> and helped to inspire fierce military resistance to colonial forces, particularly during the

Second Taranaki War The Second Taranaki War is a term used by some historians for the period of hostilities between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand between 1863 and 1866. The term is avoided by some historians, who eit ...

underway at the time.

Ahuahu attack, April 1864

Among settlers, the existence of the new religion was brought into dramatic focus with a series of attacks in April and May 1864. On 6 April, a force led by Tahutaki and Hepenaia mounted an expedition to Ahuahu village, set amid dense bush south of Oakura, near New Plymouth, believing some

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

would be delivered into their hands. The group surprised a combined force of 57th Regiment and the newly formed Taranaki Military Settlers, a total of 101 men, as they rested without their weapons during a mission to destroy native crops. The Māori force killed seven and wounded 12 of the settler soldiers. The bodies of the seven dead, including their commander, Captain T.W.J. Lloyd, were stripped naked and decapitated. The leg of one of the soldiers was also removed.B. Wells, The History of Taranaki, chapter 24, 1878.
/ref> The easy victory of the Māori over the numerically stronger British-led force gave a powerful impetus to the Pai Mārire movement and confirmed in the minds of many Māori the protection of the Archangel Gabriel, of whom Te Ua was now regarded as a prophet. The number of adherents swelled and Pai Mārire rites continued to develop, some incorporating the severed heads of the slain soldiers, through which Te Ua claimed to communicate with Jehovah.

Assault on Sentry Hill, April 1864

Three weeks later, on 30 April 1864, 200 warriors demonstrated their faith in divine protection when they marched on the Sentry Hill redoubt, 9 km north-west of New Plymouth. The redoubt, on the crown of a hill, was defended by 75 imperial soldiers and two Coehorn mortars. Atiawa Māori viewed the construction of the outpost on their land as a challenge and formed a war party of the best fighting men from west coast iwi. When they came under fire at close range, they shielded themselves from the fusillade only by holding their right hands up and chanting. As many as a fifth of the Māori force were killed in the assault.James Cowan, The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Vol II, Chapter 2, 1922
/ref> In a 1920 interview with historian James Cowan, Te Kahu-Pukoro, a fighter who took part in the attack, explained: "The Pai-marire religion was then new, and we were all completely under its influence and firmly believed in the teaching of Te Ua and his apostles. Hepanaia Kapewhiti was at the head of the war-party. He was our prophet. He taught us the Pai-marire

karakia Karakia are Māori incantations and prayers, used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection. With the nineteenth-century introduction of Christianity to New Zealand, Māori adopted (or wrote new) karakia to acknowledge the new faith. Moder ...

(chant), and told us that if we repeated it as we went into battle the pakeha bullets would not strike us. This we all believed." Led by Hepanaia, the warriors participated in sacred ceremonies around a pole at the Manutahi pā, with all the principal Taranaki chiefs present:

Wiremu Kīngi Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke (c. 1795 – 13 January 1882), Māori Chief of the Te Āti Awa Tribe, was leader of the Māori forces in the First Taranaki War. He was born in 1795-1800 in Manukorihi pa, near Waitara. He was one of the 3 sons of ...

and Kingi Parengarenga, as well as Te Whiti and

Tohu Kākahi Tohu Kākahi (c. 1828 – 4 February 1907) was a Māori leader, a warrior leader in the anti government Hau Hau Movement 1864-66 and later a prophet at Parihaka, who along with Te Whiti o Rongomai organised passive resistance against the occupati ...

, both of whom would later become prophets at

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major camp ...

. The force, armed with muskets, shotguns, tomahawks and spears, marched to Sentry Hill and at 8 am launched their attack, ascending the slope that led to the redoubt. Te Kahu-Pukoro recalled: About 34 Māori and one imperial soldier were killed. Among those shot dead, at almost point-blank range, were chiefs Hepanaia, Kingi Parengarenga (Taranaki), Tupara Keina (Ngatiawa), Tamati Hone (Ngati Ruanui) and Hare Te Kokai, who had advocated the frontal attack on the redoubt. According to Cowan, the slaughter temporarily weakened the new confidence in Pai-marire, but Te Ua had a satisfying explanation: that those who fell were to blame because they did not repose absolute faith in the karakia, or incantation.

Battle of Moutoa, May 1864

Two weeks later, on 14 May, a Pai Mārire war party from the upper

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

advanced on the settlement of

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, intent on raiding it. In what became known as the Battle of Moutoa, Lower Whanganui ''kupapa'' (Māori loyal to the Queen) routed the war party, killing 50 of them including the prophet Matene Rangitauira.James Cowan, Vol.2, chapter 3
/ref> Relieved settlers erected New Zealand's first war memorial at the site—today known as Moutoa Gardens—with an inscription that read: "To the memory of those brave men who fell at Moutoa 14 May 1864 in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism".

East Coast killings, March, April 1865

The reverses at Sentry Hill and Moutoa Island reinforced Māori belief in Te Ua's movement, with the conviction that the defeats had been caused by disobedience to the leader by the prophets Hepanaia and Matene. More ''iwi'' attached themselves to Te Ua. In early 1865 emissaries carrying the smoke-dried severed heads were sent from Taranaki to chief Hirini Te Kani at

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

via

and Taupo in two parties – one via

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Whakatane, Opotiki, and

East Cape East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Gisborne District of New Zealand's North Island. It can also refer to the broader Gisborne cape. East Cape was originally named "C ...

, and the other through the centre of the island via Ruatahuna and

Wairoa Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

. The emissaries were instructed to proceed peaceably and obtain the support of tribes they passed, delegating their spiritual powers to leading converts in each tribe, who each took up the duties of Pai Mārire priest. But on 23 February the group clashed at

Pipiriki Pipiriki is a settlement in New Zealand, on the east bank of the Whanganui River, due west of the town of Raetihi and upriver from Whanganui; it was originally on the opposite bank. It is the home of Ngāti Kura, a hapū of the Ngāti Ruanui iwi ...

near Wanganui with Māori loyal to the New Zealand government and determined from then to murder missionaries they encountered. Among European settlers unease grew at the spreading influence of Pai Mārire. In a letter to the Native Minister, the Resident Magistrate for Central Wanganui warned: "The Hauhau fanaticism is spreading very rapidly in the Province, and I fear will be the cause of great mischief. It is now the mainstay of the

King movement King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

." The warning came too late to save the life of one North Island missionary. At Taupo the Pai Mārire recruiting party ransacked the house of the Rev.

Thomas Samuel Grace Thomas Samuel Grace (16 February 1815 – 30 April 1879) was an English Anglican missionary in New Zealand. He was a member of the Church Missionary Society. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 16 February 1815. Grace replaced ...

and at Opotiki on 2 March shot, hanged and decapitated the German-born Rev.

Carl Sylvius Völkner Carl Sylvius Völkner ( – 2 March 1865) was a German-born Protestant missionary in New Zealand who was hanged and decapitated at his church grounds on the east coast of the North Island in what became known as the Völkner Incident. Biograp ...

. His head was taken to the local church, where his eyes were removed and eaten by the prophet

Kereopa Te Rau Kereopa Te Rau (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of Pai Mārire (Hauhau), a Māori religion. He played a key role in the Volkner Incident and was subsequently hanged for his part in it. Early life Little is known of Kereopa's early life but h ...

. The killing was claimed to be in part revenge for Völkner's activities in spying on local Māori for the government, but may also have been motivated by Kereopa's wish to bring government retaliation on local Te Whakatōhea Māori as a payback for an earlier intertribal battle with his

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').S. Barton Babbage, "Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866", chapter 4. A.H & A.W. Reed, Dunedin, 1937
/ref> Rev Grace, who had fled from Taupo to Opotiki, was arrested and put on trial by the Pai Mārire party. He was rescued from captivity two weeks later by a British

man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

, ''HMS Eclipse'', after an attempt by local Pai Mārire leaders to exchange him for Tauranga chief Hori Tupaea, who was in prison. On 22 July, Taranaki prophet Horomona led the murder of the master and two of the three crew members of the schooner ''Kate'' at Whakatane.

Government suppression

On 29 April 1865 Governor

issued a proclamation condemning the "revolting acts ... repugnant to all humanity" carried out by Pai Mārire followers and warned the government would "resist and suppress by force of arms if necessary, and by every means in my power, fanatical doctrines, rites, and practices of the aforesaid character".S. Barton Babbage, "Hauhauism: An Episode in the Maori Wars 1863-1866", chapter 5. A.H & A.W. Reed, Dunedin, 1937
/ref> Horomona and Kirimangu were hanged for their 22 July killings on the schooner ''Kate'' and a coalition of government and loyal Māori forces led by

Hawke's Bay Province The Hawke's Bay Province was a province of New Zealand. The province separated from the Wellington Province following a meeting in Napier in February 1858, and existed until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. At the time of its es ...

Superintendent Donald McLean embarked on a mission to crush the religion on the East Coast. From June to October 1865 there was a virtual civil war on the East Coast culminating in the battle of Waerenga-a-Hika in Poverty Bay in November. Hundreds of followers were arrested in the campaign, while in Taranaki a separate

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

led by the increasingly reluctant British commander, General Duncan Cameron, raided dozens of villages to arrest hundreds more adherents. In February 1866 Te Ua was captured near

Ōpunake Ōpunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highway ...

in Taranaki by Cameron's replacement, Major-General

Trevor Chute General Sir Trevor Chute, KCB (31 July 1816 – 12 March 1886) was an Irish-born officer who served in the British Army during the Victorian era. Born in County Kerry, Ireland, Chute joined the British Army in 1832. Posted to British India w ...

. Chute claimed Te Ua was immediately abandoned by all those in his village, who swore an oath of allegiance to the Crown and were set free. He reported that ''kupapa'' (loyal) Māori urged his immediate execution. Te Ua was taken to Wanganui, writing en route to his North Island supporters, urging: "Let evil be brought to an end ... in order that the General may cease operations against you." Te Ua and Patara were freed in Auckland and most other leaders were pardoned, but Grey transported 400 East Coast followers, including

, to the

for incarceration. Elements of Pai Mārire were later incorporated into the Ringatu religion founded by Te Kooti. Te Ua died at

Oeo OEO may refer to: * Office of Economic Opportunity * Optical-electrical-optical conversion of data, often with respect to an optical communications repeater * Opto-electronic oscillator, a type of photonic oscillator that relies upon a locked las ...

in Taranaki in October 1866.

Rites and beliefs

Te Ua's followers identified themselves with the Jews, calling their ministers ''Teu'' (Jews) and accepted the Jewish

seventh-day Sabbath The seventh-day Sabbath, observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening, is an important part of the beliefs and practices of seventh-day churches. These churches emphasize biblical references such as the ancient Hebrew practice of beginning a ...

. They believed they were a second Chosen People and that, with divine aid, they would return from the wilderness to freedom in their hereditary land. Te Ua taught that the Creator,

, would fight for them and drive the English into the sea. When the last of the enemy had perished, every Māori who had died since the beginning of the world would be resurrected and stand in the presence of Zerubbabel, healed of all of diseases and infirmities. Men would be sent from heaven to teach Māori all the arts and sciences known by Europeans. Their first great day of deliverance would be in December 1864. He urged men and women to abandon

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...

and live together communally to produce as many children as possible. Services were held at a ''niu'', a tall pole, often about 18 m high, with yard-arms from which hung ropes. The first of these ''niu'' was the mast of the ''Lord Worsley''. Members of the congregation circled the ''niu'' several times a day, chanting and touching a severed head mounted on a pole while priests conducted prayer services. Historian Babbage wrote: "The worshippers worked themselves into a state bordering on frenzy during the procedure of the ritual, until

catalepsy Catalepsy (from Ancient Greek , , "seizing, grasping") is a nervous condition characterized by muscular rigidity and fixity of posture regardless of external stimuli, as well as decreased sensitivity to pain. Signs and symptoms Symptoms inc ...

frequently prostrated them." The chants as devotees circled the ''niu'' were described by one European commentator as "a jumble of Christian and ancient concepts, of soldier and sailor terms, of English and Māori language with the barking watchword of the cult interspersed". The "angels of the wind" were said to be present during the service, ascending and descending the ropes dangling from the mast's yard-arm. By the end of 1865 a ''niu'' stood in almost every large village from Taranaki to the Bay of Plenty and from the north of the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

district to the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

frontier.

The chants

Historian James Cowan described many of the chants as "simply meaningless strings of English words rounded into the softer

; others were either transliterations or mispronunciations of parts of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

services, with a sprinkling of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

from the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

ritual. Some phrases were military orders, picked up at the soldiers' camps. Some others showed a nautical origin; Te Ua boxed the compass like any pakeha sailor." The chant began: :''Kira, wana, tu, tiri, wha—Teihana!'' :''Rewa, piki rewa, rongo rewa, tone, piki tone—Teihana!'' :''Rori, piki rori, rongo rori, puihi, piki puihi—Teihana!'' :''Rongo puihi, rongo tone, hira, piki hira, rongo hira—Teihana!'' :''Mauteni, piki mauteni, rongo mauteni, piki niu, rongo niu—Teihana!'' :''Nota, no te pihi, no te hihi, noriti mino, noriti, koroni—Teihana!'' :''Hai, kamu, te ti, oro te mene, rauna te niu—Teihana!'' :''Hema, rura wini, tu mate wini, kamu te ti—Teihana!'' (Translation) :Kill, one, two, three, four—Attention! :River, big river, long river, stone, big stone—Attention! :Road, big road, long road, bush, big bush—Attention! :Long bush, long stone, hill, big hill, long hill—Attention! :Mountain, big mountain, long mountain, big staff, long staff—Attention! :North, north-by-east, nor'-nor'-east, nor'-east-by-north, north-east, colony—Attention! :Come to tea, all the men, round the niu—Attention! :Shem, rule the wind, too much wind, come to tea—Attention!

Divine protection in battle

Te Ua taught that the divine service and strict adherence to his instruction would make them impervious to bullets if, when under fire, they would raise their right hand and cry, ''"Hapa! Hapa! Pai Mārire, hau! Hau! Hau!"'' "Hapa" meant to pass over, or ward off, while the exclamation "Hau!" at the end of the choruses – said by one soldier to uttered in a way that sounded like the bark of a dogLt Gudgeon, as quoted by Babbage, Ch.2 – had a literal meaning of "wind" but referred to the life principle or vital spark of man, while the wind angels were named "Anahera hau". A similar belief in the mystical power to avert bullets had earlier been reported among groups in Africa and Asia and America, such as the Ghost Shirt Movement.