We learned how lucky Maori were that we brought them Christianity, and that we won the Land Wars, which were called the Maori Wars. Maori seemed to have been unaware of their good fortune, but any simmering resentments were tidied away neatly with memorials erected to Pakeha soldiers who fought, and the "friendly" natives who joined our side. Since then there's been the odd spot of bother, we can't think why.

I'm pleased to see that the Ministry of Education is holding fast to that line, because we should be protected at all costs from the embarrassment of history. Knowledge can only confuse.

Look what happened to New Plymouth's mayor, Andrew Judd, who took the time to read a history book, learn that there was another side to the story, and realise he'd been unconsciously racist, as many of us are, all his life. He's been reviled and spat on by upright citizens who have better things to do than read, and has no intention of standing for election again.

What makes his case especially interesting is that Taranaki saw some of the most vicious encounters and land confiscations in our history, at Parihaka and Waitara in particular.

But the Education Ministry is right: no need for local students to have to bother with all that, especially where there is such a large Maori population in Taranaki. Uppity we do not need. Continue reading

• Rosemary McLeod is a New Zealand writer, journalist, cartoonist and columnist.

These are stories centered on the enduring French and Catholic influence in Kororareka Russell and the Bay of Islands, specifically the work of Bishop Pompallier and of the Marist missionaries whose South Seas headquarters and printery were then here.