At Pungarehu, near Parihaka

This extract originally appeared in New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa (Te Papa Press, 2025).

This house, neatly clad with raupō (bulrush), stands at the small Taranaki settlement of Pungarehu. The bearded man in uniform appears to be a member of the volunteer Taranaki Mounted Rifles, but nothing is known about him or the women pictured with him. The only possible clue to the group’s identity is the Scottish origin of the tam-o’-shanter hat worn by the infant, whose baby carriage appears between the two women at rear. Earlier, Pungarehu was also the site of a major armed constabulary camp from 1880 to 1884. Photographs of the camp at Pungarehu show a wooden blockhouse on a central hill surrounded by small military accommodation huts made of raupō —a building material used by Māori and Pākehā alike. In 1881, the camp became the headquarters for the invasion of the peaceful Māori resistance movement at nearby Parihaka. The camp was wound down in 1884 when the government introduced a ‘one policeman policy’ in a bid to settle tensions with local Māori.