The Prophecies of the Great Canyon of Toi: a history of Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi in the western Urewera Mountains of New Zealand

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is a social history of the lands and people Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi, also known as The Great Canyon of Toi, a small isolated valley located on the western borders of the Urewera mountains of New Zealand. In the first chapter, the prophecies of the Great Canyon of Toi are revealed which is followed by a discussion of the theoretical model of the thesis in chapter two. In chapter three, an interesting historiography of Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi and the scholar, Elsdon Best, is presented. These three preliminary chapters set the scene for the three main parts of the thesis. The first two parts of the thesis retrace the evolution of the Māori and Pākeha social histories of Te Whāiti, from their earliest origins, to the present day. In Part I of the thesis, chapters four to six, the mana Māori model is presented, which proposes the view that there is a peculiarly Māori way of knowing the social history of Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi. Part I is divided into three domains of the spiritual, human and earthly authorities. In Part II, chapters seven to nine, the mana Pākeha model is presented, which argues that there is a peculiarly Pākeha way of knowing that same social history. Part II is divided into the three domains of initial alienation, legal imperialism, and neo-colonialism. Part III, chapter ten, analyses the power-struggle between the models of mana Māori and mana Pākeha and explores the dynamics of the relationship between Māori and Pākeha ways of knowing the social history of Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi. The title of this thesis, 'The Prophecies of the Great Canyon of Toi', is a direct reference to a song composed by Te Kooti at Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi in 1884. The lyrics of this song form a theoretical framework for this thesis and the song provides a new and fresh way of seeing the history of New Zealand. Finally, the events foretold in the song have all been fulfilled and are confirmed by historical events that are explained throughout the body of the thesis. Kia mau ki ngā kupu whakaari e pānuitia nei!