The ‘coming of age’ myth

This year marks the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

SincStatue of Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, paramount rangatira of Whanganui Māori during the troubled 19th Century. Statue stands in Moutoa Gardens, Whanganui.e 1921, when ANZAC Day celebrations began, the landings at Anzac Cove have become part of our national myth-making – that New Zealand ‘came of age’ on the beaches of Gallipoli, where our boys ‘spilled their blood’ in 1915.

‘Coming of age’ at Gallipoli however is more myth than fact. It’s a story now buried deep in our national psyche with no affirming historical roots in our earlier histories.

Quite the reverse – it’s a day that forgets all that went before, especially for Māori. Every ANZAC Day, though, you will hear ‘coming of age’ repeated often, especially by those who have benefited from its political and historical utiliy.  

Occasionally, you will hear calls for ANZAC Day to be our national day; Waitangi Day, it is said, is too divisive. If you would like to read more about this debate, read Danny’s article  published in Mana : click here –  ANZAC or Waitangi?  (The reference is Mana, no 92, February-March 2012, pp. 44-45).

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There are many other events to commemorate this year; here are some of them  .. 

‘Other’ 2015 Anniversaries 

1805   Governor King in Sydney prohibits the forced removal of Māori from New Zealand

The cross at No 3 Redoubt, just out of Waitara, marking the site of the midnight attack of Te Ātiawa on the Redoubt, on 23 January 1861.

1815   Ruatara dies, leaving new missionaries exposed to the fearsome war chief, Hongi Hika

1825   Christian Rangi, the first Māori ever converted, dies

1835   First Christian pamphlet published for Māori by Colenso and missionaries

1845   Northern War starts with British attack on Puketutu Pā, $100 bounty placed on Hone Heke’s head

1855   British troops sent to New Plymouth as deterrent against Māori warfare

1865   Taranaki Pai Marire prisoners transported to the South Island ; Native Land Court established (in the form it thereafter functioned) by the Native Lands Act 1865. The earlier 1862 Native Lands Act set up the Court as a Māori communal tribunal convened by the local Resident Magistrate. Finding this too slow and cumbersome, the government changed the Court’s structure in 1865 – one judge (or more) making all the decisions.

1875   Native Minister McLean forbids surveying of the contested Waimate Plains, south of Parihaka

1885   Rail link begins through the King Country, with Ngāti Maniapoto resistance finally overcome

1895   Minnie Dean hanged in Dunedin

1905   New Zealand’s national rugby team called All Blacks for the first time, when playing Somerset at Tauton

1915    ANZAC troops land on the beach at Gallipoli, and New Zealand ‘comes of age’ ..

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Source: Alison Dench,  Essential Dates A Timeline of New Zealand History, Random House, Auckland, 2005.