Völkner incident: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|1865 killing of a missionary in colonial New Zealand by the MaoriMāori}}

*[[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]], [[Hawke's Bay Province]]. (modern-day Napier, [[Hawke's Bay]])

Despite hostilities Völkner had remained at Ōpōtiki, making several visits to [[Auckland]] in 1864, and again in January 1865. This further aroused suspicion that he was reporting to Governor [[George Grey]] on Whakatōhea activities without their approval. Ignoring warnings from several locals, he returned to Ōpōtiki on 1 March. Völkner was arrested almost immediately and tried on charges of espionage by Whakatōhea members of the Pai Mārire. Völkner was found guilty after a night of deliberation, and, sentenced to death, was [[Hanging|hanged]] and [[Decapitation|decapitated]] at his church grounds.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1v5/volkner-carl-sylvius|title=Völkner, Carl Sylvius – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara}}</ref>

In response to Völkner's death, George Grey authorised a military expedition to Ōpōtiki to arrest those who had convicted and executed him. At leastBetween 16 and 58 people were killed in the attack, which took place on 11 September 1865,<ref>Stolen Lands | Episode 3: The Trial | RNZ</ref> and the [[pā]] was burnt to the ground.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/AJHR1866-I.2.1.2.12?items_per_page=10&query=%22volkner%22&snippet=true#save_as |title=Return Of Maoris Killed Or Wounded At Opotiki |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> A number of local people were arrested and some were executed without trial. A large parcel of land, from [[Matatā]] to east of Ōpōtiki, was confiscated from eastern Bay of Plenty iwi. Despite being uninvolved in Völkner’s death, Mokomoko was arrested after Ōpōtiki Pā was looted and burnt to the ground by colonial forces. He surrendered to them on the condition that his tribe be left alone, but was wrongfully convicted for the crime, and executed among with several others in Auckland in May 1866.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Pāho |first=Ten Canaries {{!}} Made with the support of Te Māngai |date=2023-04-04 |title=Episode 3: The Trial |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/stolen-lands/story/2018884620/stolen-lands-episode-3-the-trial |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz}}</ref>

Among the Māori community, Völkner was rumoured to be a government spy. It was thought he sent Governor George Grey a plan of a pa near Te Awamutu where British troops burned women and children alive in a whare that had been converted to a church. The wife and two daughters of Kereopa were among the victims. Pai Mārire (or Hauhau) arrived in the [[Ōpōtiki]] area of the [[Bay of Plenty]] in February 1865. On 2 March Protestant missionary Carl Völkner discovered that his Māori congregation had moved on from [[Christianity]] to Pai Mārire (or Hauhau). Like many Europeans in isolated communities, Völkner had sent reports of anti-Government activity to the governor. Although warned to stay away from the town, on his next visit he was captured, put on trial and hanged from a tree, and his body was decapitated an hour later. [[Kereopa Te Rau]], a Hauhau, was alleged to have re-entered the church and conducted a service with Völkner's head in the pulpit beside him. He was also alleged to have plucked out the dead missionary's eyes and swallowed them.<ref name="Sept1865">{{cite web |title= The Church Missionary Gleaner, September 1865|work= Death of the Rev. C. S Volkner|accessdate=24 October 2015 |url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/CMS_OX_Gleaner_1865_09/2| publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> One eye allegedly represented Parliament and the other the Queen and British law. News of the murder caused great alarm and anger among [[Pākehā]].

George Grey was enraged upon hearing of the execution. He proclaimed its perpetrators “fanatics” and in September 1965 declared martial law in the Bay of Plenty, ordering Ōpōtiki locals to assist government forces or face land confiscation. <ref>{{Cite web |lastname=Pāho |first=Ten Canaries {{!}} Made with the support of Te Māngai |date=2023-04-04 |title=Episode 3: The Trial |url=https:"auto"//www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/stolen-lands/story/2018884620/stolen-lands-episode-3-the-trial |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}}</ref><ref>https: name="auto1"//teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1v5/volkner-carl-sylvius</ref> Then forces then available to the New Zealand government, some 500 men, were transported by [[HMS Eclipse (1860)|''HMS Eclipse'']] from [[Wanganui]] through [[Cook Strait]], around the [[East Cape]] to Ōpōtiki. The composition of this force was significant. There were four companies of militia, a troop of cavalry and a contingent of [[Ngāti Hau]] warriors led by [[Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui]]. These were the units that had already been campaigning together during the Taranaki War and had a history of successful cooperation and mutual respect.

The landing at Ōpōtiki was accomplished with difficulty. One of the ships ran aground on a falling tide and came under fire from the shore. Eventually it had to be abandoned and the crew and militia waded ashore but it was another twenty-four hours before the other ships were able to land their men and supplies. Once Grey's men had made successful landfall at Ōpōtiki, they opened fire indiscriminately at the local inhabitants, forcing them to retreat into nearby forest. Rather than pursue them, the Crown troops looted the pā, before burning it to the ground.

Before he was hanged, Mokomoko said “Tangohia mai te taura i taku kakī kia waiata au i taku waiata” ("Take the rope from my neck that I may sing my song”). He then sang:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m47/mokomoko|title=Mokomoko – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara}}</ref>