Rātana

He received mixed opinions from other Christian leaders, some of whom disliked that he was referred to as the mangai, or the 'mouthpiece' of God, while others were pleased at his renouncement of traditional Māori religion and tohunga.

This political attitude was made clear by 1924, when Ratana led a delegation to Europe to present a petition to King George V on the topic of Māori land confiscations and the treaty.

In a 1932 by-election, Rātana had its first candidate, Eruera Tirikatene, elected to parliament for the Southern Maori electorate, and by 1943 had captured all four of the Māori seats—a monopoly it would hold until 1963.

In the early 2000s, members of other parties began attending Rātana Day, which is now seen as the beginning of New Zealand's political year.

T. W. Ratana's grandfather Ngahina was a signatory of the Treaty of Waitangi for the tribes of Ngā Wairiki and Ngāti Apa.

She had been at Parihaka with Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, had established her own church in Parewanui and was a faith healer and rongoā practitioner.

On 21 July 1925, the constitution of the Rātana Church was accepted by the Registrar-General and a list of "apostles" (ministers) who were authorised to conduct marriages was published in the New Zealand Gazette.

[7] In 1924 a group of 38 people including Rātana and his wife Te Urumanao Ngāpaki Baker and spokesperson Pita Moko journeyed to Europe to unsuccessfully present a petition to George V and the League of Nations on land confiscations and the Treaty of Waitangi.

The New Zealand Government acted to prevent the petition being presented to the monarch, and the visit to Japan on the way back from Europe created allegations of disloyalty and of flying the Japanese flag over the church settlement of Rātana Pā.

The "first cut" was Paraire Karaka Paikea in the north, Haami Tokouru Rātana in the west, Pita Moko in the east, and Eruera Tirikatene in the south.

The covenant signed by the men promised they would not rest, and their wives separately agreed that they would go barefoot and in rags to represent the Rātana movement.

Rātana candidates stood in the 1928 and 1931 general elections and in the 1930 by-election in Western Maori following the death of Maui Pomare, but they did not succeed.

The first Rātana movement MP was Eruera Tirikatene, elected in a by-election for Southern Maori in June 1932.

The Prime Minister was given four symbolic gifts: a potato, a broken gold watch, a pounamu hei-tiki, and a huia feather.

Te Whetū Mārama represents the kingdom of light or Māramatanga, standing firm against the forces of darkness (mākutu).