Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Most years I actively choose not to celebrate or commemorate Guy Fawkes (I let you choose the appropriate C). As a festival, it seems so out of place in the Aotearoa New Zealand.  Guy Fawkes is no NZ folklore demon and to claim that we should remember him, but not remember our own history is a misguided judgement. After all, the 5^th of November has national significance here in Aotearoa NZ. But definitely not one worth of fireworks and burning guys; rather if we are true to tradition it is worth more - way much more.

So let’s get into a conversation with a very famous verse written in the 1800s

Remember, remember! The fifth of November,

But why should I remember, tell me?

The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason,
Why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!

But what happened, tell me?

Guy Fawkes and his companions; Did the scheme contrive, to blow the King and Parliament;  All up alive.

How did they do it?

Threescore barrels, laid below, To prove old England's overthrow.  But, by God's providence, him they catch,  With a dark lantern, lighting a match!  A stick and a stake For King James's sake!

How did the Crown (King) react?

If you won't give me one, I'll take two, The better for me, And the worse for you.

Who did the Crown really want to do

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope, A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,  A pint of beer to wash it down,  And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring! Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King! Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

This verse really does highlight that the events surrounding Guy Fawkes and November 5^th have very little to do with Aotearoa NZ. Nor do they really reflect an event that did happen on this day in 1881. On that day 1600 Government Troops (Agents of the Crown (Queen Victoria)) invaded the peaceful settlement of Parihaka. The troops were welcomed by singing children and greeted with baskets of food. But the innocence of children did not stop the violence that followed. Men of Parihaka were arrested and sent to Dunedin (much of the early buildings were built with their hands). The prophets were detained for 16 months without trial. The women of Parihaka raped. Whare (buildings) were burned to the ground and the land seized.

There is no connection between Guy Fawkes and Parihaka at all; but is there? While I will continue to put my feet firmly into the ground and refuse to set off fireworks I will acknowledge that there are connecting threads between the two histories. One deep thread concerns the misuse of power by the English Crown over the centuries. It is recognised that, even in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Magna Carta (the founding document of human rights and our own constitional framework) was created in response to the abuse of powers by the crown before even Guy Fawkes occurred. But I would argue that the events of Guy Fawkes and of Parihaka recognise a Crown power stepping out of its boundaries. The advent of Protestantism in England was not a progressive move of the Church, but the actions of one King, Henry Tutor (King Henry the 8^th) to divorce his wife. When the Catholic church denied this right, Henry created his own version of the Church with the King (himself) as the divine ruler.

King James the 1^st (connected to Henry the 8^th through Mary, Queen of Scots) was the target of the gunpowder plot in a deeply divided Kingdom where Catholics were being oppressed and wanted to restore the land of England to the Catholic Faith. The capture of Guy Fawkes and his companions before the event occurred enabled the Protestant faith to assert that God had his will behind the Anglican church and the Catholics were evil. Guy Fawkes was originally called Thanksgiving Evening and features in the English Anglican Calendar. But really to the Catholics, Guy Fawkes saw the beginning of violent oppression where Catholic followers were beaten and killed for their faith. In some towns in England, the commemorations continue today with large models and symbols of Catholicism (including the Pope) being burned in marches down the street.

The actions on Parihaka were indeed Crown actions and they too were actions that were based on an idea that the practice of Christianity at Parihaka was not congruent to the practices of the deeply Protestant faith of the English settlers (although it is doubtful as to whether that faith was followed as records show a stronger observance of Christianity amongst indigenous peoples in the 1800s than white settlers). Just as Guy Fawkes would be seen as a freedom fighter for the Catholic faith, Te Whiti and Tohu were freedom fighters for a peaceful Christian faith. Added to this is the demonisation of peoples. The events of the Protestant revolution has seen the Catholic church demonised. Even I as a young Christian was taught that Catholics go to hell; there is no Truth in this at all. The events of colonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand have seen Maori peoples (and others) demonised and there is no better way to say this. Natives in early colonial New Zealand were framed in the same way Native American Indians were in the history of colonisation in America. The 'natives' were seen as being in the wrong in the New Zealand wars - but come on - who was taking the land unlawfuling, and just because a fence is not on it does not mean it is up for grabs? 

There are very real differences as well with the actions of Guy Fawkes being based on a violent uprising and a symbolic burning of a building of power. At Parihaka, the people strove to follow peaceful but active resistance, welcoming their invaders as guests and believing deeply in the words of Te Whiti and Tohu who sought council from the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.

Remember, remember! The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason,
Why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions; Did the scheme contrive, to blow the King and Parliament;  All up alive.

The plot failed, the freedom fighters were hanged and the people of England would torture the Catholic Faith.

Remember, remember! The fifth of November,
The invasion of Parihaka on high; I know of no reason,
Why Parihaka should ever be forgot!
Native Minister John Bryce and his companions; Did the scheme contrive, to seize the land of Parihaka and take its men and rape its women;  All up alive.

The plot went ahead, but the people stand strong and Parihaka remains under the Mountain today, but its story is unsaid often.

I choose to remember.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fok2o7cSpZQ