Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
The 9th February saw a disgraceful act of colonial glorification by a deep-rooted racist community of locals and backed by ignorant politicians and do-gooders of the Mangere Bridge community and wider Manukau district. Orpheus Day is an event to commemorate the shipwreck of HMS Orpheus, a military ship that was bound for land confiscation, cultural genocide, treaty breaches and the bloody and tragic invasion of the Waikato. This year anti-colonialist Māori, Pākehā and Tau Iwi activists disrupted this event.
The 9th February saw a disgraceful act of colonial glorification by a deep-rooted racist community of locals and backed by ignorant politicians and do-gooders of the Mangere Bridge community and wider Manukau district. Orpheus Day is an event to commemorate the shipwreck of HMS Orpheus, a military ship that was bound for land confiscation, cultural genocide, treaty breaches and the bloody and tragic invasion of the Waikato. This year anti-colonialist Māori, Pākehā and Tau Iwi activists disrupted this event.
The ‘festival’ had the aim of getting youth involved to celebrate and commemorate the lives lost in the shipwreck of HMS Orpheus. The ‘festival’ was dismal in turnout and offensively ignorant as expected. Like last year, there was no involvement from the local iwi who have been opposed to this event from the beginning.
Starting with a marching band of a paid bagpipe brigade, followed by a contingent of St Johns youth and the local walking club, protesters made a mockery of the event by leading the march with Tino Rangatiratanga flags and a banner with the slogan- ‘Colonisation: The REAL Tragedy’.
Notable characters such as recently appointed mayor or Manukau, Len Brown, Mayor of Waitakere, Bob Harvey and the benefactor of the cannon on whose property it sits, Wynona Stevens, made inappropriate speeches about the great loss incurred by the sinking, rebutted by hecklings and chants from Maori sovereignty activists and Radical Youth. After speeches, men dressed in colonial military regatta fired their guns and raised a New Zealand flag; people hummed along to the Maori version of the national anthem, follower by a hearty chorus of the English version. The public was then invited to proceed down to the festivities across a knoll, where a baking competition, an all female barbershop cortette and more colonial British military gunfire would barely hold the attention of the 20 or so members of the public who considered today’s event relevant or worthwhile.
Commemoration of the Orpheus also involved the firing of a cannon, situated on a Mangere Bridge resident’s front lawn. The half-scale replica of a traditional colonial cannon was due to be fired at 1:30pm after speeches, but protestors stood in front of the cannon preventing it from being let off until most people had left the ‘festival’. This cannon is a symbol colonial destruction and mass murder.
Those involved the organising of the event alleviated the community action funds of all but the remaining matter of dollars for a fizzer of an event- thousands were given to the group organising who claimed at a community board meeting that the event could not go ahead if the money was not granted- the money then went to paying St John to participate and hiring the marching bagpipe brigade as well as hiring a singing cortette.
Pitched as a youth based event to educate and involve the community, the event itself on the day could not have been further from this; the average age being round the 60 year old mark and those youth who did attend were part of a paid contingent or those protesting against the shameful event. No schools were invited to the event and most of the community did not know it was on. It is unlikely to for the event to continue next year due to the disruption from protestors and the poor turnout from the community.
People in the community were told that local iwi had approved the day and indorsed the celebrations- that was not the case and tangata whenua of the region were and still are offend by the notion of firing a cannon to commemorate the loss of what was essentially, a raiding party, here to steal, kill and destroy.
Related
http://www.radicalyouth.org.nz
Comments
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
excellent! i like it how your at the front of their redneck march!
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Thats awesome, great stuff Conscious and RY crew!
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Awesome stuff! The look on Len Brown's face made my day. What was he saying when that photo was taken?
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Great work. Thanks to everyone who took the time to remind the ignorant of Aotearoa's disturbing history.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
i think he was talking about maori involvement in the event (non-existant) and saying things along the lines of 'well you lot being here means the other side of the story IS being told- so we're not being exclusive in our recount of history'
blah blah blah. he would sell his soul to any event if he gets to play dignatary
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
This has to be one of the coolest things I've seen all year. Awesome stuff everyone involved :)
The photos are classic
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
choice one you fellus! - kt.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
im loving it
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Good protest. I think it would be good to have a more historically accurate commemoration which explained the context of the Orpheus' voyage. I would not demonise the rank and file troops on the Orpheus - in many cases they were coming from places (Ireland, Cornwall) that had suffered the same fate as Maori were about to suffer. They should be considered in the same way as the Maori rank and file trops who hve been the backbone of NZ contributions to neo-colonial wars overseas over the last hundred years (Vietnam, Malaya, Afghanistan).
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
King Tawhiao of the King Country laid his cap on the centre of the North Island, declared war on the government and vowed to drive all white settlers into the sea. Thus started the Maori wars for sovereignty [now called the Land Wars]. The Orpheous was there to uphold the 'Treaty,' no different from when the British stopped the wholesale slaughter of Maoris during the Maori Musket Wars. The land wasn't taken until 2 years after the Maori wars for Sovereignty, in order to pay for the war the Maoris started. This debt remains outstanding.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
What I am ashamed at is how LOW keyed, LOW standard and LOW class this pathetic excuse was for wasting community funding.
Bob Harvey's decision to take part in this distasteful event shows his blatant disregard to not only tangata whenua, but also to his constituents of Waitakere.
Thanks for the wake-up call regarding shameful genocidial historical events that local politicians and their ignorant counterparts are trying glorify. Perhaps leading to their own demise.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
'King Tawhiao of the King Country laid his cap on the centre of the North Island, declared war on the government and vowed to drive all white settlers into the sea.'
This is a good example of the sort of distortion of history which the protesters were trying to counter.
The centre of the North Island is the King Country - or Rohe Potae, the country of the hat - and Tawhiao only ended up there after being driven out of the Waikato by the war (before relocating to Te Kuiti, his capital was Ngaruawahia).
What he actually said when he laid his hat on the map, during negotiations with the Crown that resulted, eventually, in the opeining up of the King Country, was 'my people need a land of their own'. Laying the hat on the map was in no sense an aggressive gesture.
The official reason given by the New Zealand and British governments for the invasion of the Waikato in 1863 was the refusal of Tawhiao to swear allegiance to the Queen. There was no pledge to drive the settlers into the sea on Tawhiao's part. He pledged to resist the crossing of the borders of the Waikato Kingdom by settlers and their army. He warned Governor George Grey that if his army crossed the aukati (boundary) formed by the Mangatawhiri Stream near Mercer, south of Auckland, then 'the fire will be in the fern' - meaning that there will be war.
Some interesting debates on this period in history on my blog recently:
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2008/02/bernards-fling-with-tina.html
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2008/01/bernard-gadds-quest-for-secur...
Scott
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
loved it - reminds me of our anti-columbus day marches...at first I was thinking maybe it woulda been kool to celebrate the sinking of the coloniser ship, but then again I also tautoko this person's post:
"I would not demonise the rank and file troops on the Orpheus - in many cases they were coming from places (Ireland, Cornwall) that had suffered the same fate as Maori were about to suffer. They should be considered in the same way as the Maori rank and file trops who hve been the backbone of NZ contributions to neo-colonial wars overseas over the last hundred years (Vietnam, Malaya, Afghanistan)."
same way a lot of our tanagata whenua are over fighting Bush's war in Iraq....
anyway - hope to see some of u fullas soon as i land in Tamaki Makarau on 23 Feb and will be in the motu til 11 March!
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Maori were the first to cross the Mangatawhiri river on their way to attack Auckland, but when they found the Aucklanders were ready for them turned tail and ran. The soldiers crossed the Mangatawhiri in hot pursuit. Why can't you guy's think for yourself instead of being led by the politically correct.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
It is rare to hear of an act of kindness by Europeans, so www.kilts.co.nz/mhorruairidh.htm
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
'Maori were the first to cross the Mangatawhiri river on their way to attack Auckland, but when they found the Aucklanders were ready for them turned tail and ran.'
This is even sillier than your earlier post, and you won't be able to find a single source to back it up. General Cameron led an army of 12,000 men - Brit regular soldiers, not 'Aucklanders' - over the Mangatawhiri in July 1863. They'd been building the Gt South Rd for months to move the men and gear, and they'd been camped at Queen Redoubt in Pokeno for weeks waiting to attack. We're not talking about some sort of spontaneous counter-attack.
Since you alone have access to the truth and we're all brainwashed, though, can you tell us where the battle between this invading Maori army and 'the Aucklanders' who were 'waiting for them' took place? It must have been on the north side of the Mangatawhiri somewhere, I assume - I'd love to know where, and so would a few military historians.
Scott
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
I see the 'Celtic New Zealand' kooks have come out to play. These folk accuse every historian and anthropologist in the country of being involved in an elaborate, politically-motivated conspiracy to conceal the truth that Pakeha are actually the tangatae whenua of this country, while at the same time maintaining close links with the One New Zealand Party and various similarly dodgy outfits overseas.
If you want to get an idea of the ideological and methodological lineage of Martin Doutre, the brains, if you can call them that, behind the guff on the Celtic NZ/Kilts sites, take a look at these links. Doutre is a 9/11 denialist who writes to convicted Holocaust Denier David Irving to wish him all the best with his 'research':
http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Belsen/Doutre011103.html
http://www.serendipity.li/wot/pentagon911/pentagon911.html
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Here's another letter from Doutre to Irving, which Doutre ends by wishing the convicted anti-semite, neo-Nazi, and Holocaust denier 'much success':
http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Belsen/Kramer_Doutre_281203.html
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
1840
Treaty of Waitangi - 'Legal processes established for land sales'
1858
Kingitanga Movement
'No more sales of Maori land'
1861
Confiscation of Waikato planned by Colonial Government All 'hostile' Maori North of the Mangatangi Line (Miranda to Pokeno) evicted or arrested
1862
Military build up in Onehunga
1863
Feb 7th Naval supplly ship 'HMS Orpheus' sinks at Manukau Heads transporting weapons for the planned invasion of Manukau/ Waikato 189 sailors drown
July 12th Manukau invaded by British troops. Maori evicted, waka destroyed, buildings destroyed, stock stolen 146,000 acres of Manukau land confiscated
RAUPATU
Laws enacted to 'legalise the confiscations'
Suppression of Rebellion Act 1863
Land Settlement Act 1863
1864 - 1994
130 years of struggle to achieve justice for horrendus crime against the people of Manukau
1995
The Waitangi Tribunal upholds the rights of Tainui to the return of their land and compensation of $170 million
The crown apologises for this gross injustice
2007
An Orpheus Festival in Mangere to commemorate the 189 British Troops who drowned during the confiscation campaign. A replica cannon from the Orpheus is blessed and fired.
------------------
The festival is an insult to those who lost everything and those who struggled for justice for 130 years
(text of leaflet distributed at protest)
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Someone wants to know where the Battle of Auckland took place at the begining of the Maori wars for Sovereignty [now called the 'Land Wars]. If you read the article,'the Maoris turned tail and ran.' The soldiers followed in hot pursuit, crossing the Mangatawhiri River, as the Maori King had previously declared war on the government and vowed to drive all white settlers into the sea. As far as King Tawhiao was concerned it was a war of "take everything." The soldiers were under obligation to uphold te Tiriti. Kindness has indeed been shown, as Tawhio's people never signed te Tiriti, nor won their war. He even accepted the Queen's pension, designating total surrender. Any royal successor accepting govt aid of any kind would signify same.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
'If you read the article'
What article? I'm asking you for a source and for the location of this mythical battle north of the Mangatawhiri. You can't find a source or name the location, because you're making things up out of thin air.
The first, minor, battle of the Waikato war took place south of the Mangatawhiri, on the hills near Whangamarino Redoubt, after General Cameron led his army across the stream. Then the Brits had a go at the fortification at Meremere, the Maori retreated, and they fought the famous battle at Rangiriri. This is just historical fact. No historian, whatever his or her opinion of the rights and wrongs of the conflict, disagrees.
Arguing that the Waikato War started with a Maori invasion of Auckland is like arguing that World War Two began when Poland invaded Germany. Then again, neo-Nazis like Martin Doutre's mate David Irving argue exactly this. That's why we're entitled to call them pseudo-historians, and to expose their 'research' for the dishonesty it is.
Scott
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Please re-read my previous articles. I never said there was a battle, what I said was the Maoris who first crossed the Mangatawhiri river intending to sack Aukland turned tail and ran. It is also common knowledge the Maori king and Te Whiti of Taranaki declared war on the government and vowed to drive all the white settlers into the sea, triggering the 'Maori Wars for Sovereignty,' now referred to as 'The Land Wars.' The land wasn't taken until 2 years after the war finished and it was taken to pay for the war the Maoris started. The land taken wasn't enough to cover their war and most has been returned. This debt remains unpaid. Stick to the point and don't side track to a battle I never claimed.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Prior to Maoris being the first to cross the Maungatawhiri river on their way to attack Auckland Riwi, of the Waikato, wrote this letter to the Taranaki tribes,"Euro's living quietly in the Waikato driven out, proerty plundered, wives and children taken."
Who owes who an apology and redress?
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
'It is also common knowledge'
So common you can't find a single source in either the primary or secondary literature for anything you claim. Nada, nil, zilch. And you can't even even spell Rewi Maniapoto's first name properly when you try to make up a quote for him. Clown.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
My apologies for the spelling typo.
You would be correct about primary and secondary cariculum. How sad our children are taught the lies which you believe. There is more than one way you can abuse children. Even sadder when one is angry when exposed to the truth.
Sorry for not including the date of Rewi's letter which is 9th July 1863, well before he crossed the Maungatawhiri to sack Auckland. Read "The Realms of King Tawhiao'", by Dick Craig. Not being politically correct, this book may now be removed from book shelves and libraries.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
The 9th of July was 'well before' Rewi supposedly crossed the aukati, and yet the invasion of the Waikato was caused by this crossing? The date of the invasion was July the 12th! How do you hope to convince anyone of your views when you can't even make sense?
David Craig is not taken seriously as a historian not because of a conspiracy, but because his books are knockabout amateur affairs which aren't properly footnoted. Even so, he does not say that
Rewi launched a secret invasion of Auckland in 1863 only to turn tail and flee back across the aukati.
What he does is argue that the invasion was justified because the Waikato was supposedly lawless, and not recognising the Crown. Not even the One New Zealand Foundation uses Craig's book to claim that Maori actually invaded Auckland. They reproduce his list of less dramatic reasons for the invasion. You appear simply to have made the claim that Auckland was invaded up. You can't find a single source for it, and now you want us to believe the absence of proof constitutes proof! If Rewi really had led an invasion across the aukati, don't you think the Brits would have seized on this and made it a justification for their invasion of the Waikato? Do you think Rewi's crossing would have been completely absent from the historical record?
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
Btw, primary and secondary literature doesn't refer to primary and secondary school. It's a distinction historians use - primary literature is stuff produced at the time (like, say, a diary entry by Govenor Grey) and secondary literature is stuff that has been produced since - commentary and interpretation of the primary material (like, say, James Belich's books). The fact that you don't know this basic bit of terminology suggests you probably shouldn't be on here lecturing us all about how little we know about history.
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
And this is the letter to GG from Rewi you seem to be referring to. Needless to say, you've completely misrepresented it. There's nothing about driving settlers out of the Waikato. That's not surprising, because there were no settlers in the Waikato in early 1863! Note that Rewi didn't actually kill Gorst, despite what he says at the start of the letter - he just expelled him along with his printing press.
‘Te Awamutu, 25 March, 1863.
‘Friend Governor Grey,
‘Greeting. This is my word to you. Mr Gorst has been killed by me. The press has been taken by me. They are my men who took it—eighty, armed with guns. The reason is, to drive away Mr Gorst, that he may return to the town: it is on account of the great darkness caused by his being sent to live here, and tempt us; and also on account of your saying that you would dig round our King till he fell. Friend, take Mr Gorst back to town; do not leave him to live with me at Te Awamutu. If you say he is to stay, he will die. Let your letter be speedy to fetch him away within three weeks.
‘From your friend,
’Rewi Maniapoto
Re: Orpheus Day Disrupted by Anti-Colonisation Activists
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