Public talk – We are one people (aren't we?): From Parihaka to Pākehā myth
On the morning of 5 November 1881 an Irishman called Andrew Gilhooly formed up alongside other members of the Armed Constabulary at the entrance to Parihaka pā: he was there for the invasion, the occupation and – much later – for the farming of land taken from Taranaki iwi. But those events dropped out of the family stories handed down to Gilhooly’s ancestors; neither do they feature in national narratives of fairness, egalitarianism and equal treatment.
In this presentation Richard Shaw, one of Gilhooly's descendants, will explore the relationship between historical amnesia amongst (some) descendants of settler families and the stories we tell each other about the nation we live in.