October 15th Solidarity

Globally, both the production of food and its distribution are becoming increasingly controlled by a small handful of multinational corporations. There seems to be a general acceptance that only mass-produced mono-crops will save the hungry, and that fertilizers and genetic engineering are essential to combating pests. Yet, more people are hungry, more crops are failing and the land is suffering more than ever before. Who controls the land and its resources dictates not only what happens to that land, but also how those who are dependant on it are able to live.

Land is essential to humans; we all need it to survive. For thousands of years people have been agriculturalists. By controlling the land, using its natural provisions as well as altering the conditions for growth – people were, for the first time, able to create surplus food supplies for storage and trade. This enabled the complex societies we exist in today.

I propose however, that the age-old control of land and the recent globalisation of food production were not, and are not solely about providing sustenance for all people. Controlling land enables the monopoly of resources to amass wealth and power. To do this the people too must be controlled.

Economic expansion by exploiting ‘others’ and their resources has been facilitated world over by colonial control. This is exemplified in the ongoing colonisation of Aotearoa (New Zealand) which has seen the massive destruction of a land and its people, of Maori (Indigenous peoples). Colonialism is a necessary constant for western capital economic growth; for without colonies, capital accumulation would cease.

The control of land by privatisation for capital gain in Aotearoa has its roots in England. There in the second half of the 18th century, a series of Parliamentary Enclosure Acts, largely suggested and funded by powerful landlords and representatives of the Church of England, seized previously common land as private property. The common belief, among the ruling class, was that everyone would benefit from a wealthier country by way of privately run agriculture for profit, a belief that continues to persist today in England and all its colonies.

Samuel Marsden, one of the first missionaries to Aotearoa, wrote of Maori upon his arrival that “My first object will be to introduce Agriculture, in general, amongst them (…) I am fully convinced that these people will become a great nation, if they can only get Iron (…) I am lead to think that it is possible these people may originally have sprung from some civilised nation and that they have degenerated into a rude and barbarous state for want of Iron”.

This comment suggests what the first impressions of Maori people might have been to English government and church officials, and what they believed needed to be done in order to establish a permanent settlement. It also shows that their efforts to ‘civilise the natives’ were not purely paternalistic Christian ones, rather, that they were filled with the vested commercial interests for the expansion of the British Empire.

English concepts of land ownership were imposed upon Maori when the New Zealand Government was established by the English in 1854. All the laws were British imports, slowly amended to suit the needs of English in New Zealand. Specifically their endeavors to gain complete control over its land, and to a lesser extent, its people. The implementation of The English Laws Act 1858 meant that all English laws, as they stood on the 14 January 1840 were now, retrospectively, in effect in New Zealand, as of 6 February 1840, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

By the end of the 19th Century, the New Zealand government had waged war on all Maori who would not give up their land for the capitalist economic gains of the English. In an effort to silence and smother any political dissent a series of Acts were passed to undermine all Maori resistance. Acts such as the 1863 Suppression of Rebellion Act sent countless Maori to prison without trial for ‘rebelling’ against the Crown. The 1880 Prisoners Act, specifically designed for the non-violent resisters of the Parihaka pa (a tribal settlement on the west coast of the north island), also meant prison without trial, and an additional two years hard labour. We have these prisoners to thank for the construction of the towns of Dunedin and Lyttelton.

The people of Parihaka and those of Ngai Tuhoe are renowned for non-violent resistance and their unwavering dedication to their ways of life. Also intrinsic to Te ao Maori (Maori world view, the world of knowledge) is traditional food production, collection and preparation. The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 was design specifically to stop tohunga (specialists in particular areas of knowledge creation  and dissemination) from practicing. This had the effect of preventing the transmission and maintenance of Maori ways of knowing, living and understanding. A phenomenal loss of knowledge took place, a crime that can never be corrected

Tuhoe are one of many iwi (tribes) who are determined to regain control over their lives by reclaiming the power to do so . “Tuhoe is known for its long history of resistance to colonisation. They never signed the Treaty of Waitangi. (…) Today, Tuhoe have the one of the highest ratios of native speakers of the Maori language (called 'te reo') among tribal groups and have a strong cultural identity that is intimately linked to the land in an area that they call 'Te Urewera,' land of the mist. There are about 20,000 people who claim Tuhoe ancestry, many of whom are still living in relatively isolated communities within Te Urewera” – Valerie Morse.

In 1916 a Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana Hepetipa, was arrested and charged with sedition for telling his people not to go to the ‘white mans war’ (WWI). To assert their authority the police relentlessly raided the small village of Maungapohatu, terrorising the people. This memory lives on with Tuhoe today.

Ninety one years later, on the 15th of October 2007, Tuhoe was again raided. That morning, over three hundred paramilitary police, many of whom were armed, carried out dawn raids throughout Aotearoa. Seventeen people were arrested, several of whom were well known activists belonging to anarchist, indigenous, animal rights, peace, and environmental groups. The police had search and arrest warrants issued under the Arms Act 1983 for various locations in Auckland, Whakatane, Wellington, Christchurch, Palmerston North, Hamilton, Ruatoki and Taneatua (Te Urewera, Tuhoe country).

“storm troopers smashing down doors, machine guns held to people’s heads and military style raids on rural communities are all unforgivably short-sighted”

– Nicky Hager.

These raids, dubbed ‘Operation Eight’, were reported by the New Zealand media as ‘terror raids’, which were carried out to catch a ‘terrorist group’ which had supposedly been operating in the hills of rural Ruatoki, in Te Urewera,. These claims came despite the absence of any search or arrest warrants under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002

According to the police, the arrestees were involved in terror training camps in te Urewera region. This site, in actual fact was used by Tuhoe young men in a government funded course to teach them about bush skills These skills which, in the early part of the century were threatened by the Tohunga Suppression, and continue to be effected by them today.. This education program was one expression of Tuhoe’s desire for autonomy; The intention being that by teaching their people the skills and knowledge needed to be Tuhoe, they are able to resist ongoing colonisation.

These raids are consistent with most western nations ‘zero tolerance’ for those who dare to speak against the powers that be. A primary role of global counter insurgency organisations, is, silencing dissenters. They do this by closing the political space needed to create communities. Many of those targeted are indigenous peoples, such as Maori.

Today the New Zealand Government’s power is as threatened as it was one hundred years ago, by strong Maori iwi who will not lie down and shut up in the face of colonisation, capitalism and globalisation.

From being labelled rebels to terrorists, Maori have and are ‘othered’ in an attempt to alienate and disempower them to make their own decisions about their lives. By maintaining control over ancestral lands, and using it in ways that are consistent with whakapapa[1] and tikanga[2], Maori are able to resist, fight and struggle against their ongoing colonisation. By working with the land rather than against it, Maori maintain the resources necessary to self-determination. And in doing so they work for peace.

Ka whawhai tonu matou, ake ake ake!

[1] Geneology which includes people, the land and sea, their recources, the sky, bush and all the dwells within it.

[2] Could be described as Maori culture, custom, ethic, etiquette, , formality, lore, manner, and meaning.

This article was written by Jessie Moss for inclusion in the occassional zine Violence and Gardening