tahupotiki wiremu ratana

1916  Rua Kēnana arrested

It is hard to imagine what New Zealand must have been like in 1918. The First World War was finally over, leaving more than 18,000 New Zealanders dead and tens of thousands more seriously wounded – over 5300 soldiers died in 1918 alone. Between October and December another 8600 people (including 2160 Maori) died during the influenza pandemic.

Maori in the House

Important leaders of Maori society have represented their people in the House: Maui Pomare, James Carroll, Matiu Rata and, most famously, Apirana Ngata. These and other men – and they were all men until 1949 when Iriaka Ratana was elected – could be lonely Maori voices in a Pakeha-dominated House. It was not until the 1980s and the later introduction of mixed member proportional representation (MMP) in 1996 that more Maori entered the House and represented electorates other than traditional Maori seats.

Mangahao hydro scheme opened

This formal group portrait, taken on the occasion of Ratana's 60th birthday, includes Paraire Karaka Paikea and Tiaki Omana (back row, from left); and Haami Tokouru Ratana, Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and Eruera Tihema Te Aika Tirikatene (front row, from left).

Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana (seated in the back of a car holding a flag) publicising the Ratana movement at Taupo during one of his early 1920s motor tours. By 1928 the Ratana faith was said to have more than 28,000 followers or morehu (survivors), about a third of the total Maori population. That year, Ratana announced his intention to enter politics and campaign in the four Maori seats, which he called the 'four quarters' of his body.

The alliance between the Rātana Church and the Labour Party was cemented at an historic meeting between Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana and Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage on 22 April 1936.

In 1928 T.W. Rātana announced his intention to enter politics, referring to the four Maori seats as the ‘four quarters’ of his body. He aimed to win these seats through the voting power of his followers, who were said to number 40,000 by 1934.