RÄtana
As Ratana movement is a religious and political movement is called, the TW Ratana (1873 - 1939) was founded in the early 20th century in New Zealand. The headquarters of the Ratana Church is located in the small village of Ratana near Wanganui.
Initial position of the Māori
The situation of Māori during the first decades of the 20th century was very poor. As a result of numerous wars, the number of Maori was decimated. Since the mid-19th century, it gradually lost the cohesion of the tribes, their original lands, their traditional customs and religions, and their mana. On the one hand, many Māori took to Christianity with its commandments and ideas. But on the other hand they had an extremely ambivalent relationship to the missionaries who spread this new doctrine. These negotiated namely itself not always "Christian " but " made a pact " with the white government. Clergy were even accused as agents of the government to promote the oppression of Māori. Since the 1860s, began several Māori ministers to interpret the Bible so that it was also the Māori accessible.
The Ratana Church
The first pillar of the Ratana movement is the religion (Te Reo Māori: Ture Wairua ). Wiremu Ratana Tahupotiki (TW Ratana ) had in 1918 a - to bring vision in which he was asked by God, the Māori the gospel closer, the power of the tohunga (eg the healer ) to destroy - in his opinion, God-given as well as body and mind to heal his people. By 1924, Ratana preached to more and more listeners and described himself as " Maori Miracle Man " ( German: Miracle Man of the Maori ). At the beginning this movement was seen as a Christian revival movement, but soon they moved away from the churches existing at that time. On 31 May 1925, the Te Haahi Ratana Church was officially established and confirmed its founder as Te Mangai or " speaking tube of God."
The secular movement
Origins
The second pillar of the Ratana movement form the mundane activities (Te Reo Māori: Ture Tangata ). After starting from 1924 a specially formed church committee was responsible for all religious areas of the Ratana Church, could TW Ratana by the ecclesiastical matters from and to the secular problems of his followers (Te Reo Māori: Morehu ) turn. DC in 1924 began Ratana along with other Maori a trip to Europe by King George V and the League of Nations submitted a petition to the seizure of land and other wrongful acts in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi by the white settlers and the government again to be reversed. This trip was just as unsuccessful as more in the United States, Canada and Japan. These projects were very controversial in New Zealand.
With the completion of the Te Temepara Tapu o Ihoa, a church building, in 1928, Ratana declared his religious work finally ended. Ratana was already in 1923 a say in politics in New Zealand. He described the four reserved for Māori seats in Parliament as "quarter of his body ." His eldest son became unsuccessful at representing the Western Maori. Now Ratana sat determined committed to win the Māori seats for his movement. In the parliamentary elections of 1928 and 1931, he failed in his goal, but could 1935 two seats ( Western Maori and Southern Maori ) win.
Policy objectives
General presented the Ratana party's first political association in the history of the country is composed mostly of Māori. She sat down one especially for legally established recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi, the restitution of lands, and social equality between Maori and Pākehā.
Alliance with the Labour Party
When, after the election in 1935 the Labour Party for the first time formed the government under Michael Joseph Savage, the two Ratana MPs agreed to form an alliance with the Labour Party. This was officially sealed when the two deputies to the Prime Minister Savage four symbolic gifts handed over: A potato, a broken golden clock, from Greenstone (Te Reo Māori: pounamu, a kind of jade, specifically a nephrite ) existing Hei -tiki and the spring a Huia. The potato should symbolize the loss of lands of the Māori, the clock, the broken promises, the Hei -tiki (a kind necklace ) the mana of Māori. If Savage could restore these three things, he would be allowed to wear the Huia Pen with law, symbolizing his high status. This transfer was judged to be so groundbreaking that things Savage were placed at his funeral in 1940 in the grave.
In the following years, even the seats for the Northern and Eastern Maori were harvested and maintained in part to the reform of the electoral system in 1996.
Influence on the New Zealand policy
In the parliaments of 1946-1948 and 1957-1960, the Ratana MPs were decisive for the formation of a government. Although not all Māori Labour MPs were members of the Ratana Church, allowed the alliance with Ratana Labour to lay claim to all four Māori seats from the 1940s to 1996. Since this time, the Labour Party is no " rule " more about the Ratana MPs, yet the movement still plays an important role in New Zealand politics. All MPs and ministers of the Labour Party regularly visit the annual celebrations of the birthday of TW Ratana. 2006 also appeared the two Co -Chairs of the Māori Party Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, Don Brash as leader of the National Party and Winston Peters as chairman of New Zealand First.
- Māori
- Religion ( New Zealand)