"You're whaka-kake - a bunch of arrogant,
self-important, smug, stuck-up, snobs!" Te Kooti
rebukes the corrupt officers of the law courts who had
treated him unjustly several times. The first time was when
he ran a trading schooner from Gisborne to Auckland and
undercut the prices of another white trader, and so he was
imprisoned on a trumped-up charge. The most recent was a ban
from visiting his home territory and his followers who had
built a wharepuni for his visit.
He mentions Queen Victoria because the government officers’
greed and bad faith are also insults to her.
The highest authority lies with a just God in Heaven
(Rangi-tu), and is maintained by a spirit of unity. Te Kooti
personifies this as Te Ko-tahi-tanga, a reference to unity
among all the different iwi which he had predicted would be
achieved in the future.
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