Days of Darkness: Taranaki 1870 - 1884
Author:
Hazel Riseborough
Publisher:
Bridget Williams Books
ISBN:
9781991033666
Date published:
01 November 2023
Pages:
300
Format:
Paperback
RRP:
$49.99
Days of Darkness tells the story of events surrounding the invasion of Parihaka, chronicling the government’s quest to assert British law and supremacy in Taranaki during the late 19th century.
The narrative of the Parihaka community sheds light on a critical period in Aotearoa’s colonial past. As the government seized their land, Māori communities across the region engaged in non-violent resistance, with Parihaka emerging as a powerful symbol of defiance under the leadership of Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi.
Rather than a history of Parihaka itself, Hazel Riseborough’s compelling account delves into the government’s systematic efforts to dismantle Māori rights and self-determination. First published in 1989, Days of Darkness is published now in a new edition which includes opening words contributed by the Parihaka community.
‘[Hazel] Riseborough’s account is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand critical aspects of New Zealand’s past … Riseborough has presented a study in quintessential colonialism, or the assertion of European supremacy. It is a part of New Zealand’s history which has to be recognized and not buried.’ – Judith Binney
About the author:
Hazel Riseborough was an historian and the author of Days of Darkness: Taranaki 1878–1884 (1989, 2002, 2023), Ngamatea: The Land and the People (2006), and Shear Hard Work: A History of New Zealand Shearing (2010). She was one of the fi rst women to qualify as a wool classer in New Zealand; later she graduated with advanced degrees in Māori studies and history, teaching for some years at Massey University. Later in life, she became active in conservation.
