Mihaia - The Prophet Rua Kenana and His Community at Maungapohatu

Oxford University Press 1979 edition, cover faded and previous owner name inside.

Kenana was one of many Maori prophetic leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries. He called himself Te Mihaia Hou, the New Messiah, and was the leader of a section of the Tuhoe at a time when their land, the Urewera contry, was threatened by possible prospecting and milling. Withdrawing to Maungapohatu, in the heart of the Urewera, he established a community. This book is a history of Rua and his people, of the destruction of their community by the government during the First World War, and of the struggle to start all over again. Stories and rumours about Rua abounded and many curious outsiders, some with cameras, made the difficult journey to Maungapohatu. In Mihaia more than 200 of the photographs these people took have been brought together. They are unique in the way they show the history of a man and the people who followed him for almost half a century. The book has also been created out of the memories of those who grew up at Maungapohatu. Recording their story for their mokopuna (grandchildren), they have identified people in the photographs and talked with the authors about life in the community. Of the police who participated in the assault of 1916, a few are still living and they, too, have told of their experiences...