''Te Haeata'' () was a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

newspaper published in the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

. Edited by Wesleyan missionary, Thomas Buddle, ''Te Haeata'' was the first denominational newspaper in New Zealand. It was first published in April 1859 and ceased publication in March 1862.

History

The Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS) established its first mission in New Zealand at

Whangaroa Whangaroa, also known as Whangaroa Village to distinguish it from the larger area of the former Whangaroa County, is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km ...

in 1823, focusing on spreading Christianity and literacy. In 1859, a committee of Wesleyan ministers under the leadership of Thomas Buddle determined to publish a periodical in the

to 'supply our people with a little reading adapted to promote their religious and social progress.' The first edition of ''Te Haeata'' was issued on 1 April 1859. ''Te Haeata'' faced challenging circumstances, including the decreased willingness of the WMS to support the Māori mission, the increased necessity to accommodate the spiritual needs of European settlers to New Zealand, and the wars in

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

and

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

. For these reasons, ''Te Haeata'' published its last edition on 1 March 1862.

Publications

In its three years, the newspaper issued 36 editions over three volumes. ''Te Haeata'' was printed in three columns separated by vertical rules. The newspaper was printed at W.C. Wilson's Shortland Street printing office. All issues had four pages, and editions cost 2s. 6d. per annum or 3d. each. ''Te Haeata'' covered a range of issues, including scriptural lessons, meetings held by Wesleyan missionaries, moral tales, and the Kohimarama Conference. The main message conveyed in ''Te Haeata'' was the inadequacy of the Māori Wesleyan church. Mākutu was frequently decried as a threat to Māori Christianity and readers were encouraged to abandon these 'works of darkness.' While the newspaper was not overtly Wesleyan in its religious themes, it drew a clear distinction between

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. ''Te Haeata'' described Protestantism as the 'True Church' and criticised practices such as idol worship, praying to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

, and what it referred to as 'errors' within Catholicism.

References

Bibliography

External Links

*
Te Haeata
' on ''Papers Past''
English abstracts of ''Te Haeata''
created by the Department of Maori Studies at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. {{NZ newspaper Defunct newspapers published in New Zealand Defunct Christian newspapers 1859 establishments in New Zealand Māori-language mass media 1862 disestablishments in New Zealand