1918: Te Paina Marae Raid

June 11, 2022

By AHNZ

Today in New Zealand history, 11 June, 1918, New Zealand Policed raided Te Paina marae at Mercer. They were looking for Maoris to conscript for the Great War.

Princess Te Puea had created a refuge at Mercer for the Contentious Objectors and refused to co-operate with the police bust. As the men, often the wrong ones, were carted off by police to the military camp at Auckland she kept her cool. After the Waikato War the edict was that her people had left violent fighting behind entirely, British and Germans alike. They weren’t going to make any circumstantial exceptions to that oath and commitment just because of a temporary notion called ‘The German Hun’.

“A crowd greeted police when they arrived at Te Paina on 11 June 1918. After being escorted into the meeting house, they read out the names of those who were to be arrested. Nobody moved and Te Puea made it clear that she would not co-operate. The police waded into the crowd and began arresting men they believed to be on their list. Mistakes were made. ” – nzhistory.govt.nz

“Rising to her feet, Te Puea greeted those present and their guests in the traditional manner. Then she responded to Waterman. ‘These people are mine … I will not agree to my children going to shed blood. Though your words be strong, you will not move me to help you. The young men who have been balloted will not go … You can fight your own fight until the end.’” – WW100.govt

Te Puea moved up to the training camp at Narrow Neck beach to be close to her incarcerated people. She became a very great political problem for the government because of her stature and commitment. They couldn’t just send her off to the front or behind a barbed wire fence.

In the end, the Government quit trying to conscript Maoris and let the ones they had captured go home quietly, secretly. It was a much better deal than non-Maoris got but they didn’t have a princess on their side.

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