The Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion or cult that flourished in New Zealand from about 1863 to 1874. Founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumene, it incorporated Biblical and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from Pākehā domination, providing a religious aspect to the issue of Māori independence, which had until then been a purely political movement. The embracing of the religion by some Māori also signalled a rejection of Christianity and a distrust of missionaries over their involvement in land purchases. The religion gained widespread support among North Island Māori and became closely associated with the King Movement, but also became the cause of deep concern among European settlers due to the random violence of the followers on isolated settler communities.
Although founded with peaceful motives (its name means Good and Peaceful), Pai Mārire became better known for an extremist form of the religion popularly known as Hauhau, though there is evidence the most violent activities, committed in 1864 and 1865, were led by subordinate prophets acting against the wishes of Te Ua and the basic precepts of the religion. The rise and spread of the violent expression of Pai Mārire was largely a response to the New Zealand Government's military operations against North Island Māori, which were aimed at exerting European sovereignty and gaining more land for white settlement. Pai Mārire became well known for its revival of ancient rites including incantations, a sacred pole and belief in supernatural protection from bullets. Its rites also included beheadings, the removal of the hearts of enemy soldiers and cannibalism. Pai Mārire spread rapidly through the North Island from 1864, welding tribes in a bond of passionate hatred against the Pākehā and helping to inspire fierce military resistance to colonial forces, particularly during the Second Taranaki War (1863–1866).
Governor Sir George Grey launched a campaign of suppression against the religion in April 1865, culminating in the raiding of dozens of villages in Taranaki and on the East Coast and the arrest of more than 400 adherents, most of whom where incarcerated on the Chatham Islands. Elements of the religion were incorporated in the Ringatu ("Raised hand") religion formed in 1868 by Te Kooti, who escaped from the Chatham Islands after being incarcerated there.
New Zealand censuses have as recently as 1961 showed hundreds still listing Pai Mārire as their religion.
Read more about Pai Mārire: Rise of The Prophet, Formation and Spread of The Religion, Government Suppression, Rites and Beliefs