Polynesian Panthers visit Rosmini
On Monday 29 July some Year 7 to 10 classes and Rosmini's Pasifika Group went into Rosmini College’s Tindall Auditorium to hear a talk from members of the Polynesian Panthers. It was an incredible opportunity to hear about an important part of New Zealand history and, especially, to learn firsthand about the horrors of the Dawn Raids of the 1970s, the increasingly violent protests against the 1981 Springboks Tour, the work of the Polynesian Panthers and their reaction to the New Zealand Government's 2021 Apology to the Pacific Island community for the Dawn Raids.
Students Filianga Fakatava, Jeshua Naititi Seumanutafa, Sione Tengei and Semisi Vave give their impression of the visit...
I already knew that the Polynesian Panthers were traumatised from when the police were banging on their door in the morning and were part of the Dawn Raids that started in 1974-1976. They were raided in the middle of the night to check their passport to see if they were overstayers. Then the government apologised in 2021.
I have learnt some new things. I learnt that they didn’t tell their parents that they were in the Polynesian Panthers. I learnt that Niuean men could not cut their hair until they had a family ceremony. The Panthers had a street fight at the Springboks vs the All Blacks, it was the Springboks Tour.
Another fact I learnt was that one of the Polynesian Panthers made a book about the Dawn Raids. The book is called ‘The Platform’ and the person that wrote that book was Melani Anae. She was a part of the Dawn Raids at a young age, not knowing what would happen. The Polynesian community thought that the Polynesian Panthers were a gang so Melani Anae didn’t tell her parents.
However, the most interesting thing I learnt was that the police would take the Polynesians out of the club and take them to the back of an alley in Ponsonby and beat them with wet newspaper so that they didn’t have any bruises.
My overall opinion of the Polynesian Panthers talk was that it was good for the Polynesian community, helping them with school for kids and trying their best to look after the elders at the club and watching them so that the police didn’t hurt them.
