Paper short abstract:

The focus of this paper is a Maori social movement named Kaingarara (Lizard or Reptile-eaters) that was active in Taranaki in the 1850s and 1860s. Led by a tohunga (shaman) named Tamati Te Ito, Kaingarara can be understood as New Zealand's first post-conversion Maori 'prophetic' movement.

Paper long abstract:

The focus of this paper is a Maori social movement named Kaingarara (Lizard or Reptile-eaters) that was active in Taranaki and Whanganui in the 1850s and 1860s. In the immediate aftermath of mass conversions to Christianity in the 1840s, the continued presence of atua (spirits) was understood to be significant cause of the extremely high levels of sickness and mortality within Maori Christian communities. Led by a tohunga (shaman) named Tamati Te Ito, Kaingarara sought to counter the malign influences of pre-Christian atua by capturing and eating lizards, their visible forms. But this movement was also one of political independence that sought to unite tribal groups in opposition to land sales and in further opposition to missionaries and the colonial state it established its own judges and schools. I suggest that Kaingarara can be understood as New Zealand's first Maori 'prophetic' movement and as a direct for-runner to Te Ua's Paimarire movement, the Waikato King movement, Te Whiti's Parihaka movement and Te Kooti's Ringatu movement (Tamati Te Ito appears to have known the leaders of all of the above). A military attack by colonial troops on Tamati Te Ito's settlement in March 1860 marked the beginnings of the New Zealand Land wars.