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https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori/page-4
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/37793/moriori-survivors
Timeline
- 1791 "In late November 1791 a British ship, the Chatham, was blown off course to Rēkohu. Lieutenant William Broughton planted the British flag and, claiming Rēkohu in the name of King George III, named it Chatham Island. In a misunderstanding with the ship’s crew, a Moriori man named Tamakaroro was shot while defending his fishing nets. "
- 1835 "Moriori welcomed about 900 people from two Māori tribes, Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama. Originally from Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island, they had voyaged from Wellington on an overcrowded European vessel, the Rodney. They arrived severely weakened, but were nursed back to health by their Moriori hosts. They soon revealed hostile intentions †† and embarked on a reign of terror." > "A Moriori survivor recalled : "[The Maori] commenced to kill us like sheep.... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed - men, women and children indiscriminately."
- 1863 Release from Slavery: "Around 300 Moriori were initially slaughtered, and hundreds more were enslaved and later died. Some were killed by their captors. Others, horrified by the desecration of their beliefs, died of ‘kongenge’ (despair). According to records made by elders, 1,561 Moriori died between 1835 and 1863, when they were released from slavery. "
- 1870 "In 1870 a Native Land Court was set up on Rēkohu to investigate competing claims by Moriori and Māori. By this time almost all Māori had returned to Taranaki. But the court ruled largely in favour of the absentee Māori, awarding 97.3% of the land to Ngāti Mutunga after applying the legal rule that those in occupation in 1840 had the greatest rights. No account was taken of the prior long and peaceful occupation by Moriori. This judgement was the final blow for Moriori as a people and as a culture for the next 110 years."
- Postscript of Jan, 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/world/australia/moriori-new-zeal...
related projects
Tangata Whenua o Aotearoa (won't link for some reason Oct. 2022)
notes
†† hostile intentions: Though these Maori were hostile, many others elsewhere were not. WItness: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/occupation-pacifist-settlement-at-parihaka ; see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Whiti_o_Rongomai
††† essential disconnect in historical documentation : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C4%81ti_Mutung in particular: "Ngāti Mutunga in turn saw the meeting as a precursor to warfare on the part of Moriori and responded." Comment : Was it not known already that the Moriori were peaceful?