Sir Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare KBE CMG (1875 or 1876 – 27 June 1930) was a New Zealand medical doctor and politician, being counted among the more prominent Māori political figures.

His career was not without controversy: he negotiated the effective removal of the last of Taranaki Māori land from its native inhabitants – some 18,000 acres – in a move that has been described as the "final disaster" for his people.

[1] He was a member of the Ngati Mutunga iwi,[2] which was originally from North Taranaki, migrated to Wellington, and then invaded and settled the Chatham Islands in 1835.

[7] His parents were followers of Te Whiti and sometimes lived at Parihaka,[5] and Pōmare lost a toe there as a boy when a horse trod on his foot.

[8] His father died in 1885[9] and his mother when he was in his early teens, leaving him in the guardianship of his aunt, Hēni Te Rau Nicoll.

At the time of Pōmare's return to New Zealand there was considerable concern about public health, with the quality of housing and sanitation being a major political issue.

Pōmare was highly active in the everyday work of his office, often walking to remote villages to give public speeches.

Pōmare was quite popular with his party—in part this is likely because he did not promote an independent Māori cultural identity and that fitted well with the Reform Party's generally conservative views.

[1] Both Waikato and Taranaki elected Māui Pōmare as the member for Western Maori to ensure this 18,000 acres would not become freehold settler property in perpetuity.

[13] In 1923 Māori reclaimed their 18,000 acres, but Pōmare had converted the land from leasehold to freehold, something his people were woefully unprepared to deal with.

They both believed that by participating strongly in the war and fighting to defend the country, Māori would demonstrate to Pākehā that they were full citizens.

[15] When Pōmare went to Waahi Pa late in the war to try to change the minds of Waikato Māori, he was greeted in this manner: "He was met at the station by a hostile crowd and escorted to the riverside where he was a spectator of an event never before recorded in European times.