HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Rātana movement ( mi, Te Haahi Rātana) is a
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
and pan-'' iwi''
political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...
founded by
Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana (25 January 1873? – 18 September 1939) was the founder of the Rātana religion in the early 20th century in New Zealand. He rose to prominence as a faith healer. Beginnings Rātana was of the Ngati Apa and Ngā Wa ...
in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana Pā near
Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...
. In 2001 the total number of New Zealand residents that were affiliated with the Rātana church was 48,975.According to the NZ Census 2001, In the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...
, 43,821 people identified with the religion.


Symbols

The main symbol (''tohu'') of the church is a five-pointed star and crescent moon, the ''whetū mārama'' (which means both "star and moon" and "shining star"), which is worn on the lapels of ''mōrehu'' (the scattered remnant, Rātana followers) and at pivotal points on church buildings. The golden or blue crescent moon (symbolising enlightenment) can face different parts of the coloured star: blue represents Te Matua (The Father), white is Te Tama (The Son), red is Te Wairua Tapu (The Holy Spirit), purple is Ngā Anahera Pono (The Faithful Angels) and gold/yellow is Te Māngai (The Mouthpiece (of Jehovah), Ture Wairua), although this colour is sometimes substituted for the colour pink, representing PiriWiriTua (The Campaigner (of Political Matters), Ture Tangata). ''Te Whetū Mārama'' represents the kingdom of light or ''Māramatanga'', standing firm against the forces of darkness (''mākutu'').


''Ture Wairua'' (spiritual mission)

The Rātana Church is made up of the ''Ture Wairua'' (spiritual laws) and the ''Ture Tangata'' (physical laws). The spiritual laws are itemised as the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit (in Maori, Te Matua, Te Tama me Te Wairua Tapu), and Ngā Anahera Pono (the Holy and Faithful Angels) and also adding Te Māngai (God's Word and Wisdom) to prayers. Its central book is the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, although the Blue Book, written in
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
and containing prayers and hymns (many composed by Rātana), is used in all church services. On 8 November 1918 Rātana saw a vision, which he regarded as divinely inspired, asking him to preach the
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
to the
Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over severa ...
, to destroy the power of the ''
tohunga In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teache ...
'', and to cure the spirits and bodies of his people. Until 1924 he preached to increasingly large numbers of Māori and established a name for himself as the "Māori Miracle Man". At first, the movement was seen as a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
revival, but it soon moved away from mainstream churches. On 31 May 1925, ''Te Haahi Rātana'' (the Rātana Church) was established as a separate church and its founder was acknowledged as the bearer of ''Te Mangai'' or God's Word and Wisdom. 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''. Hostile attitudes have caused the church to be guarded towards its teaching and founder.


''Ture Tangata'' (secular movement)

In 1924 a group including Rātana journeyed to Europe to unsuccessfully present a petition to
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
and the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...
on land confiscations and the
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
. Later trips were made to the U.S. and Canada. These trips were not without controversy. 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. When the Rātana temple (''Te Temepara Tapu o Ihoa'' (The Holy Temple of Jehovah)) which Rātana saw as embodying in its architecture deep Biblical truths (especially the two magnificent bell towers) was opened on 25 January 1928 by Japanese Bishop Juji Nakada (with whom Ratana and party had stayed in 1924), Rātana declared his spiritual work was complete and church apostles and officers would take on the work. He now turned more to political work for Maori in New Zealand.


''Koata'' (political movement)

As early as 1923, Rātana had declared an interest in party politics, and his eldest son Haami Tokouru Rātana had stood for the Western Maori electorate as an independent candidate. Now Rātana was determined to capture the Māori electorates to give a voice for his movement. In January 1928, Rātana called himself ''Piri Wiri Tua'' and called on four followers to be the quarters of his body and rule the land. 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. Moko was later replaced by Tiaki Omana, in the "second cut". 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. All four went on to capture the Maori seats between 1932 and 1943. Rātana candidates stood in the
1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...
and
1931 general election Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – ...
s and in the 1930 by-election in Western Maori following the death of
Maui Pomare The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, but they did not succeed. The first Rātana movement MP was Eruera Tirikatene, elected in a by-election for Southern Maori in June 1932. He was followed by Haami Tokouru Rātana (known as Toko) in Western Maori in the 1935 general election. In the 1938 election, the third Māori electorate of Northern Maori was captured by Paraire Karaka Paikea, and the last (
Eastern Maori Eastern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, and ...
) was won by Tiaki Omana in the 1943 election. The Rātana Independent Members of Parliament were the first to represent a political party in which most party members were Māori. Major aims of the movement were statutory recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi, righting the confiscation grievances of the Māori people, and equality in social welfare for Māori.


Alliance with the Labour Party

Following the formation of the First Labour Government in 1935, the two Rātana MPs agreed to vote with Labour. This alliance was formalised with the Rātana movement joining the Labour Party in a meeting between Rātana and Prime Minister Michael Savage on 22 April 1936. The Prime Minister was given four symbolic gifts: a potato, a broken gold watch, a pounamu
hei-tiki The hei-tiki () is an ornamental pendant of the Māori of New Zealand. Hei-tiki are usually made of pounamu ( greenstone), and are considered a taonga (treasure) by Māori. They are commonly called '' tiki'' by New Zealanders, a term that o ...
, and a huia feather. The potato represented loss of Māori land and means of sustenance, the broken watch represented the broken promises of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the pounamu represented the mana of the Māori people. If Savage could restore these three, he would earn the right to wear the huia feather to signify his chiefly status. The gifts were regarded as so precious they were buried with Savage at his state funeral in 1940. The four Māori electorates were held by Rātana-affiliated members of Labour for decades: until 1963 for the Eastern Maori electorate, 1980 for Northern Maori, and 1996 for Western and Southern Maori electorates. Not all Labour Party Māori MPs have been members of the Rātana Church, but all Māori electorates were held by Labour MPs who had at least been endorsed by the church until Tau Henare won Northern Maori in the 1993 New Zealand general election. In both the parliaments of 1946–1948 and 1957–1960, the formation of a Labour Government depended on the votes of the Rātana Movement members. Rātana movement Members of Parliament have included
Tapihana Paraire Paikea Tapihana Paraire "Dobbie" Paikea (26 January 1920 – 7 January 1963), also known as Dobson, was a New Zealand politician and Ratana morehu who won the Northern Maori electorate for Labour in 1943. He was a Māori of Te Roroa, Te Parawhau a ...
, Haami Tokouru Rātana,
Matiu Rātana Matiu Rātana (16 December 1912 – 7 October 1949), son of Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana, was a New Zealand politician and president of the Rātana Church. Political career A younger brother to Haami Tokouru Rātana he succeeded to the Churc ...
,
Iriaka Rātana Iriaka Matiu Rātana (née Te Rio; 25 February 1905 – 21 December 1981) was a New Zealand politician and Rātana morehu who won the Western Maori electorate for Labour in 1949. She succeeded her husband Matiu Rātana to become the first wo ...
, Koro Wētere,
Paraone Reweti Paraone Brown Reweti (17 November 1916 – 21 April 1996) was a New Zealand politician and Rātana morehu. Early life Of Ngāti Ranginui ancestry, Reweti came to Parliament from a position as an executive member of the Mount Maunganui Watersi ...
,
Matiu Rata Matiu Waitai Rata (26 March 1934 – 25 July 1997) was a Māori politician who was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 1963 to 1980, and a cabinet minister from 1972 to 1975. In 1979 he resigned from the Labour Pa ...
, and
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan Tini "Whetu" Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan (9 January 1932 – 20 July 2011) was a New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1967 to 1996, representing the Labour Party, and was New Zealand’s first Māori woman cabinet minister. At the time o ...
. Mita Ririnui, who held the Māori seat of Waiariki from 1999 to 2005 and was a List MP from 2005 to 2011, is a Rātana minister. Politicians usually attend the Ratana marae to take part in celebrations marking T.W. Ratana's birthday.


Church leaders

* Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana (1925–1939) * Haami Tokouru Rātana (1939–1944) *
Matiu Rātana Matiu Rātana (16 December 1912 – 7 October 1949), son of Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana, was a New Zealand politician and president of the Rātana Church. Political career A younger brother to Haami Tokouru Rātana he succeeded to the Churc ...
(1944–1950) *
Puhi o Aotea Ratahi Puhi o Aotea Ratahi (1898/1899–1966) was the fourth president of the Rātana The Rātana movement ( mi, Te Haahi Rātana) is a church and pan-'' iwi'' political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand ...
(1950–1966) * Maata "Te Reo" Hura (1966–1991) *
Raniera Te Aou Hou Rātana Raniera Te Aohou Rātana was the fifth president of the Rātana Established Church of New Zealand and the last surviving child of its founder Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana (25 January 1873? – 18 September 1939) was the ...
(1991–1998) *
Harerangi Meihana Rehimana Harerangi Meihana (31 March 1934 – 11 May 2022), also known as Harry Lang Mason, was the seventh tumuaki or president of the Rātana Established Church of New Zealand. His mother was Rāwinia Rātana, a daughter of the founder of the ...
(1998–2022)


References


Further reading


Books

* Henderson, J. McLeod (1963). ''Ratana: The Origins and the Story of the Movement''. Polynesian Society. * Henderson, J. McLeod (1972). ''Ratana: The Man, The Church, The Political Movement'' (2nd ed.). A.H & A.W. Reed in association with the Polynesian Society. . 2nd ed. of Henderson (1963). * Newman, Keith (2006). ''Ratana Revisited: An Unfinished Legacy''. Reed. . * Newman, Keith (2009). ''Ratana the Prophet''. Raupo-Penguin. . A condensed version of Newman (2006).


Other

* Hebert, D. G. (2008). Music Transculturation and Identity in a Maori Brass Band Tradition. In R. Camus & B. Habla, (Eds.), ''Alta Musica'', 26 (pp. 173–200). Tutzing: Schneider. * Newman, Keith (2002)
A Sleeping Giant
* * Westra, Ans (1963)


External links


Te Haahi Ratana: The Official Website of the Ratana Established Church of New Zealand
by Arahi R. Hagger {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratana Rātanas Māori politics New Zealand Labour Party Māori organisations Māori political parties in New Zealand Māori religion Indigenous Christianity Political movements in New Zealand Christian denominations in New Zealand Christian political parties in New Zealand