Hi Chris, yes and thanks. The treatment of mana whenua in NZ by the english forces is well documented. Google Parihaka or Te Kohia Pa. Also https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/taranaki-wars
Hi Alun. Thanks for the links- very interesting stuff. I've been reading a good Welsh book, in Welsh, Celwydd A Choncwest, (Lies and Conquest) by Hefin Jones, about the British Empire across the world told from a minority perspective- a right sorry saga if there ever was one! One of the interesting things is the appropriation of history by the Brits (ie. the victors, who get to write the history) and the exclusion of minority histories. As well as the erasure of social history that took place here in Coed Y Brenin and the casual drowning of the community of Tryweryn to make way for the reservoir Llyn Celyn (10 miles up the road) there's also the vanished community of Dol Mynach (a similar distance up the road) where the good folk were evicted to make room for a military artilery range before the First World War- they had to live under canvas during the week at first, being allowed back at weekends to manage their farms (ha!) until eventually they were denied access totally and the farms were blown up- all traces have been removed from modern maps, though Nesta met a man who'd been a boy at the time and with Nesta's prompting, drew a sketch map of all the farms and their names, now the only surviving record...Thanks for reading Alun. Hwyl! Chris
Friends and colleagues wonder at my affinity for the plight of Maori in NZ. Reading this, the parallels between the colonisation of NZ and the treatment of Scotland and Wales are stark.
Hi Alun, thanks for the comment- I guess its the same imperialist/colonialist/capitalist attitude at the root of it, treating the places and people who can least defend themselves, as assets to be exploited and finely ground in the mill of progress. I'd be interested in hearing more about the plight of the Maori- do you write about them anywhere? Thanks again. Hwyl! Chris.
Hi Chris, yes and thanks. The treatment of mana whenua in NZ by the english forces is well documented. Google Parihaka or Te Kohia Pa. Also https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/taranaki-wars
Hi Alun. Thanks for the links- very interesting stuff. I've been reading a good Welsh book, in Welsh, Celwydd A Choncwest, (Lies and Conquest) by Hefin Jones, about the British Empire across the world told from a minority perspective- a right sorry saga if there ever was one! One of the interesting things is the appropriation of history by the Brits (ie. the victors, who get to write the history) and the exclusion of minority histories. As well as the erasure of social history that took place here in Coed Y Brenin and the casual drowning of the community of Tryweryn to make way for the reservoir Llyn Celyn (10 miles up the road) there's also the vanished community of Dol Mynach (a similar distance up the road) where the good folk were evicted to make room for a military artilery range before the First World War- they had to live under canvas during the week at first, being allowed back at weekends to manage their farms (ha!) until eventually they were denied access totally and the farms were blown up- all traces have been removed from modern maps, though Nesta met a man who'd been a boy at the time and with Nesta's prompting, drew a sketch map of all the farms and their names, now the only surviving record...Thanks for reading Alun. Hwyl! Chris
Friends and colleagues wonder at my affinity for the plight of Maori in NZ. Reading this, the parallels between the colonisation of NZ and the treatment of Scotland and Wales are stark.
Hi Alun, thanks for the comment- I guess its the same imperialist/colonialist/capitalist attitude at the root of it, treating the places and people who can least defend themselves, as assets to be exploited and finely ground in the mill of progress. I'd be interested in hearing more about the plight of the Maori- do you write about them anywhere? Thanks again. Hwyl! Chris.