Parihaka is a small community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major campaign of non-violent resistance to European occupation of confiscated land in the area.
The village was founded about 1866 by Māori chiefs Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi on land seized by the government during the post-war land confiscations of the 1860s. The population of the village grew to more than 2000, attracting Māori who had been dispossessed of their land by confiscations and impressing European visitors with its cleanliness and industry, and its extensive cultivations producing cash crops as well as food sufficient to feed its inhabitants.
"Parihaka'" is a single by New Zealand singer/songwriter Tim Finn featuring Herbs, released in 1989 from the album Tim Finn. The song reached number 6 on the New Zealand charts.
The song tells the story of the Taranaki Parihaka peaceful protests. Finn was given a book on the topic (Dick Scott's Ask That Mountain) by his sister and told to write a song about it.
The video was shot by New Zealand director Fane Flaws and notably shot in Auckland Art Gallery with several paintings by iconic New Zealand painter Colin McCahon. Flaws found out later that he had only been given clearance to use one painting in the video.
The original version of the song features Finn only and was recorded in 1988 in the US during production for the Tim Finn album. The single version features Herbs as vocalists and was recorded in 1989 on Finn's return to New Zealand.