Te Ahua O Te Kupu Whakaari: The Nature of Prophetic Sayings

Abstract

Te Kooti Te Turuki is well known in the history of New Zealand. He is widely remembered as a military general, but to the Ringatu he was a prophet to whom they looked to for spiritual leadership during the troubles of the 1860s. The loss of land meant the loss of mana. Te Kooti endeavoured to restore mana to his people through military means. When that failed he turned his efforts to faith and to prophetic sayings to restore hope to an already defeated people. The Ringatu Church is the legacy of Te Kooti who among his followers, is known as Te Matua Tangata (The Mortal Father) and his prophetic sayings have become the platform for continuing discussion and examination of his teachings. This thesis endeavours to explain the prophetic sayings of Te Kooti. This is done by explaining the nature of his prophecies. Examples are drawn from the prophecies he uttered on the many marae that he attended and from others which embraced his teachings. These prophecies are examined closely and an ideal structure is proposed. Te Kooti is also well known for his many waiata (sung poetry) that are still performed today. The texts of a selection of waiata are analyzed and the messages in them are compared to his formal prophecies. The intent is similar but the form is different. A major objective of the thesis has been to consider the proposition that the prophetic sayings of Te Kooti will inevitably be realised. Evidence in favour of this argument is drawn from particular cases which include the houses Oruataupare, Te Tokanga-nui-a-noho, Tane Whirinaki and Te Whaiatemotu. The general conclusion in this thesis is to support the proposition.