Pari‘aka

Ko ngā āhuatanga o *Pari‘aka*, 1989 he tahinga paraihe tāmiramira me te whakapuakitanga tere e whakaemi ai i ngā wā nui o te hītori o te Māori, o te Pākehā, o te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa.

Ko te tupuna tāne o Lily Laita, a Aitui Ta‘avao, kei tōna taha mauī, ko tōna whaea kei tōna taha mātau, ā, kua panonihia te āhua o te ringa toi kei waenganui i a rāua, kia kōmitimitihia ki te Maunga o Parihaka me tōna tihi mā. Kei te toro atu ōna ringa ki te awhi i te tuhinga mā e ki nei ‘MAU’ me ‘TE WITI TOHU’. Kei konei ko tāna he whakaatu i ngā whakarara o te ātetenga maungārongo i Parihaka i ngā tau waenga-1860 e hautūria ai e Te Whiti o Rongomai III rāua ko Tohu Kākahi, ki te mahi a Tupua Tamasese Lealofi-o-ā‘ana III, te kaihautū o te kaupapa Mau i Hāmoa i te tau 1927.

Kei te mihia e Laita te iwi o Parihaka i toro atu ai, i tautoko ai i a Tamasese i tōna mauherenga ki te Whareherehere o Maungawhau i te tau 1928. Koia rā tētahi hītori e maumaharatia ai, e mihia ai e tōna iwi, nā rātou i hari atu i ngā koha i tā rātou haerenga ki Parihaka.

*Pari‘aka*, 1989 is characterised by strong painterly gestures and quick expression which bring together key moments of Māori, Pākehā and Pacific history.

Lily Laita’s great grandfather Aitui Ta’avao is on the left and her mother on the right, with the artist between them morphed with Mount Parihaka and its snowy white peak. Her arms stretch out to embrace the white text ‘MAU’ and ‘TE WITI TOHU’. Here she reveals the parallels between the peaceful resistance at Parihaka in the mid-1860s, led by Te Whiti o Rongomai III and Tohu Kākahi, with Tupua Tamasese Lealofi-o-ā‘ana III, leader of Sāmoa’s Mau movement in 1927.

Laita acknowledges the people of Parihaka who visited and supported Tamasese after his arrest and time jailed in Mt Eden Prison in 1928. A history remembered and reciprocated by his people, who took gifts when they visit Parihaka.

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