Series Classification: PG (Parental Guidance)
Meet one of Aotearoa's most compelling and misunderstood historical figures - Te Whakatōhea Chief Mokomoko.
In episode two, we learn about Carl Völkner, the German-born missionary Mokomoko was wrongfully accused of murdering.
In 1861, Carl Völkner was sent to New Zealand by the North German Missionary Society and took charge of the church mission station in the Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki.
Initially welcomed by the local Te Whakatōhea tribe, Volkner built a church and a school for the mission station with the support of Governor George Grey, who at that time was attempting to defeat Māori fighters in the Land Wars.
Völkner was a political as well as a religious figure and instead of building his relationship with the tribe, wrote to Governor Grey informing him of an alliance between local Māori and a Catholic priest.
Völkner's actions caused people in Ōpōtiki to question his motives and they started to wonder if he was a spy for the British government.
Once, when Völkner travelled to Auckland, he was warned by members of Te Whakatōhea not to return to Ōpōtiki because of the rumours.
Ignoring the warning, Völkner returned to the Bay of Plenty and was apprehended by the Māori Christian group Pai Mārire.
Taken prisoner and held in a house, Völkner was hanged from a willow tree near the church the following day.
Afterwards, he was taken down and decapitated before his eyes were gouged out and swallowed by Pai Mārire leader Kereopa Te Rau.
Te Māngai Pāho Photo: Te Māngai Pāho
