RAU KENANA

Rua Kenana was a prophet and a spiritual leader for Tuhoe he joined the list of many such men in Maori society in a time of poverty and despair for Maori communities, in the early 20th century. The Maori population had decreased rapidly to the point where anthropologists referred to us as ‘the dying race’. There were many contributing factors: the musket wars, the land wars, and the biggest killer of all, influenza and disease.
The Tuhoe people had also suffered the government’s ‘scorched earth policy’ which amounted to the burning of crops and villages, followed by governmental land theft for alleged wrongs. Tuhoe were harbouring the prophet Te Turuki (otherwise known as Te Kooti) in the late 1800’s. Te Turuki had a large Tuhoe following and he prophesised that a man would come from the east and lead Maori to salvation.
Rua Kenana laid claim to being this visionary prophet that Te Turuki had foreseen. He adopted the king of clubs as a symbol that he was the fourth and last Maori prophet. The star is the ‘morning star’ representing the east and the diamond represents Maungapohatu, with the curved lines representing Halleys comet. All these symbols embellished the gateway to the Maungapohatu community. The story goes that one night the ancestress Whaitiri appeared three times on a misty track, she led Rua and his first wife Pinepine to the top of Maungapohatu where at sunrise they saw the vision of Christ standing beside her.
Once Rua was awakened to the realization of his new found purpose, he started a journey of recognition from all the lands of the Mataatua canoe tribes. He gathered people around him and they built their own town and community at Maungapohatu, the New Jerusalem. Maungapohatu is an ancient ancestral site located in the Uruwera Forest and now the home of the ‘Iharaira’ Rua’s followers. It was a long walk in and out of this space, with very extreme conditions. The first year up there was one of the hardest with extremely high casualty rates, the weather, poverty, the harsh environment and especially influenza paying its toll on the initial community inhabitants. Many died during that first winter due to illness, but Rua and his followers were resilient, so they proceeded to grow strong.
Rua’s success wasn’t dependent on Pakeha. At the same time, the world he had created adopted and adapted very quickly to Christianity and a self sufficient economy. They worked for farmers and brought the money back to the community. Rua’s following grew rapidly to the point where he became a major political threat. His voice and opinion had an influence on a major portion of the Maori population across the country. Rua and the Iharaira drew their pacifism from the bible and they called themselves the people of lasting peace. His stand against Maori enlisting in the First World War was undermined by rumours and lies published in the Auckland Star and the Rotorua Chronicle to discredit him and fuel the country’s desire for war.
The unity, strength, pride and hope that Rua provided for Tuhoe can still be felt today, the spirit of independence, peace and resistance is still strong. The fight to retain aspects of our autonomy carries on. To my cousins who continue peaceful resistance, I applaud you; I send you my aroha and respect.


Dion Hitchens, July 2007
Tamaki Makau Rau/Auckland
Aotearoa/New Zealand