Maungapohatu and the Maori Millennium: a Theory of Messianic Movements Applied to the Cult of Rua Kenana, a Tuhoe Messiah, and his New Jerusalem in the Ureweras 1906 to 1916

Abstract

This thesis is about millenarian movements. A model of these movements is presented followed by a general discussion of the problems of explanation with particular reference to the difficulties inherent in framing universal laws. At the end of the first chapter, which is devoted entirely to theoretical considerations, a possible development sequence for millennial movements is suggested and for convenience this is summarised as a proposition. From the framework established a set of hypotheses is selected for testing upon a specific cult - that of the Maori prophet Rua Kenana and his millennial movement which emerged in the Ureweras in 1906. Rua's movement is examined in detail in the following chapters with reference to the hypotheses suggested. Rua's dramatic announcement that King Edward VII would come to Gisborne and bring with him a large sum of money to help the Maori buy back the land acquired by the Europeans, and the proposed expulsion of the Pakeha from New Zealand is fully recounted and analysed. After the failure of Rua's prophecy, his trek with his followers to build a New Jerusalem at Maungapohatu in the heart of the Urewera country, remote from European control, is described. The institutions created at this settlement, a mixture of the old and the new, are also discussed in some detail. Rua's struggle with the government is depicted and analysed as well as the mounting tension which eventually led to a physical clash with the police at Maungapohatu in 1916. A brief account of the trial of the prophet is also given. The hypotheses selected for testing on Rua's cult are then carefully examined in the light of the available evidence. The thesis ends with a critical evaluation of the hypotheses proposed for a general theory of millenarian movements in the terms of probability rather than certainty.