In April 1916, John Cullen, the Commissioner of the New Zealand Police Force, personally led a raid on the Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana's community at Maungapohatu. The raid, which was based on trumped-up charges, left two of Rua's followers dead and a number of others wounded, and is often described as the last battle of the New Zealand Wars.
The book is an account of this tragic and profoundly symbolic event told by recounting the life stories of Cullen, a farm labourer born in rural Ireland who rose through the ranks to head the police force, and Rua, the inspirational though often mysterious and contradictory Māori leader. It is highly readable history which explores the intertwining of both Pakeha and Māori stories in a very potent way.
The 2007 anti-terrorist raids on Tuhoe activists and the ongoing Tuhoe land claims give this history considerable contemporary resonance: a connection that is explored in the book's conclusion. Vincent Ward's award-winning
Rain of the children, about the wife of Rua Kenana's son, further brought Tuhoe and their story into public consciousness.
Mark Derby is a writer and historian who has worked for Te Ara, the online encyclopaedia of New Zealand; and the Waitangi Tribunal. He has recently edited
Kiwi Companeros, a book about New Zealand and the Spanish Civil War, and completed a master’s thesis at Victoria University on John Cullen.
