New Zealand Poetry Society Te Hunga Tito Ruri o Aotearoa
The Double Rainbow
The Double Rainbow: James K Baxter, Ngati Hau and the Jerusalem Commune John Newton (Victoria University Press, 2009) RRP $40 ISBN 9780864736031
Keith Nunes
What really happened at Jerusalem when James K Baxter moved into town? Were the locals behind him? Did the commune change anything and what happened after Baxter died? John Newton's The Double Rainbow gives readers a genuine insight into Baxter's Nga Mokai (the fatherless) followers, the Ngati Hau who helped the commune survive and the legacy it left.
Newton digs into the psyche of the commune by interviewing dozens of ex-commune residents as well as people who had peripheral contact with the 1970s movement. What I like here is that the author gives an all-encompassing view of the Whanganui River commune - the history of the area; the people in the neighbouring pa; Baxter and those involved with him.
Newton's book has left me with something special - an idea of what New Zealand's most famous poet was trying to do at Jerusalem and, perhaps as important, who was there with him and who held up the walls after he died.
The Double Rainbow name is born from this statement: When Maori and Pakeha do these things together the double rainbow begins to shine. The bi-cultural journey is paramount here. Newton describes a virtual experiment with a group of Pakeha submitting or working at least within the framework of a Maori community and way of life - it could be said that the Jerusalem commune conveys an image of what a bicultural Aotearoa might yet become.
A poet and critic and former university lecturer, Newton says "Jerusalem isn't a place to visit lightly". He paints a vivid picture of river life and in fact New Zealand itself in the late 1960s and early 1970s. From this comes James K Baxter and his vision of communal, harmonious and Christian life.
Tim Shadbolt wrote after visiting Baxter's experiment that the commune was more of a "rural crashpad. A place where anyone could stay when the city smashed their souls and brains." Baxter's "Jerusalem hug" welcomed all comers initially and the place was thrown into the public arena by the news media.
The book goes on to describe life at Jerusalem during the Baxter years as sometimes stormy and giving but always right-minded. The local pa and Maori river people kept the youngsters in food and direction and Newton highlights a number of them who were colourful and soulful.
The book doesn't get bogged down in Baxter rhetoric and in fact spends just as much time dealing with characters like post-Baxter commune leader Greg Chalmers who at 22 showed immense moral and physical strength to guide those who stayed on. The commune would continue for three years after Baxter's 1972 death and would, says Newton, enter its period of greatest maturity.
Much of the last third of the book deals with the fallout from the commune after it finally splintered and the spin-off communes and crashpads around the country that owed their histories to ex-commune residents. This is where a reader could get lost - if you're a strictly "tell me about Baxter" fan then this last section might drift off into the ether. For those keen to know how New Zealand reacted to Baxter's commune after he died this is an intriguing section of the book.
Overall I enjoyed the up-close and personal look at the commune and its ramifications. It's a part of the country's history worth telling.
