page_title: Āpirana Ngata
section_title: Māori interests
hierarchical_section_title: Āpirana Ngata / Political career / Early career / Māori interests
caption_attribution_description: English: Apirana Ngata and Peter Buck alongside a tukutuku panel at Ngata's home at Waiomatatini, during a Dominion Museum expedition by Elsdon Best, James Ingram McDonald and Johannes Andersen. Photograph taken by James Ingram McDonald in 1923.
context_page_description: Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have ever served in Parliament, and is also known for his work in promoting and protecting Māori culture and language.
  Ngata practiced as a lawyer before entering politics in 1897, when he established the Young Māori Party alongside numerous alumni of Te Aute College, including future fellow cabinet minister Māui Pōmare. Here he challenged the traditional views of his people, advocating the abandonment of some traditional practices and customary healing in favour of science and Pākehā-style sanitation, which made him a controversial figure. In 1905, he was elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, retaining this seat for nearly 40 years. He served in government as Minister of Native Affairs from 1928 to 1934. In this he tried to accomplish as many reforms for Māori as possible, although he was forced to resign as minister in a widely publicised spending scandal. Nevertheless, he continued to serve as MP for Eastern Maori until he was ousted in 1943 by Rātana candidate Tiaki Omana, as Labour swept the Māori seats.
context_section_description: Ngata was also active in a huge variety of other endeavours. The most notable, perhaps, was his involvement in academic and literary circles – in this period, he published a number of works on significant Māori culture, with Nga moteatea, a collection of Māori songs, being one of his better known works. Ngata was also heavily involved in the protection and advancement of Māori culture among Māori themselves, giving particular attention to promoting the haka, poi dancing, and traditional carving that had been begun by Te Puea. One aspect of his advocacy of Māori culture was the construction of many new traditional meeting houses throughout the country. Yet another of Ngata's interests was the promotion of Māori sport, which he fostered by encouraging intertribal competitions and tournaments. Finally, Ngata also promoted Māori issues within the Anglican Church in New Zealand, encouraging the creation of a Māori bishopric. In December 1928, Frederick Bennett, was consecrated as suffragan bishop to the Waiapu diocese with the title Bishop of Aotearoa. Ngata and Bishop Herbert Williams campaigned for the recognition of Māori language as a subject for study in the University of New Zealand, with the study of Māori becoming eligible for a degree of bachelor of arts in 1928.
  Throughout all this, Ngata also remained deeply involved in the affairs of his Ngāti Porou iwi, particularly as regards land development. He was instrumental in establishing the land incorporation scheme whereby unused Māori land with multiple owners was amalgamated under a farm manager—often Pākehā, who developed and ran the farm. In government he was able to arrange for the transfer of four blocks of farm land to Te Puea Herangi and her husband. He arranged grants and government loans to help her develop farms for Waikato. He fired the Pākehā farm manager and replaced him with Te Puea. He arranged a car for her so she could travel around her estates. In 1934, during the depression, the public, media and parliament became alarmed at the large sums of money being gifted to Te Puea and others. A royal commission was held and Ngata was found guilty of irregularities in expenditure and negligence in administration, but no major scandals were unearthed. His land projects up to 1934 had involved the expenditure of £500,000, most of which was recoverable. Ngata resigned in December 1934. Ngata fought for higher living standards for the Māori people, and was very active during an economic depression in New Zealand in the Thirties, developing large farms which provided jobs and helped to restore the dignity of many Māori.
  Ngata was knighted in 1927, only the third Māori (after Carroll and Pomare) to receive this honour.
caption: Ngata and Te Rangi Hīroa alongside a tukutuku panel at Ngata's home, during an expedition by Elsdon Best, James Ingram McDonald and Johannes Andersen.
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