Source: Radio New Zealand
The Rātana Church Brass Band. RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The annual Rātana celebrations which traditionally mark the start of the political year are getting underway on Thursday.
Thousands of followers of the church known as Te Iwi Morehu congregate in the small settlement of Rātana Pā south of Whanganui every year in the lead up to the 25th of January, the birthday of the movement’s founder Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana.
Iwi from Whanganui, Taranaki and Ngāti Rangi alongside the Rangitikei and Whanganui District Councils will be welcomed on Thursday.
Iwi from around the motu, including the Kiingitanga and Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, will be welcomed on Friday morning.
In that same group will be Te Rangimaheu Te Heuheu Tukino IX, the Ariki or traditional leader of Ngāti Tūwharetoa making his first visit to Rātana since the death of his father Sir Tumu Te Heuheu in September 2025.
On Friday afternoon politicians, including the prime minister Christopher Luxon and leader of the opposition Chris Hipkins, will be welcomed to Rātana.
Both Luxon and Hipkins will be speaking in the afternoon ahead of a busy election campaign this year, with an election date of November 7 confirmed just this week.
It will also be the last Rātana celebrations for Adrian Rurawhe as a Labour MP, after he announced his retirement from politics.
Rurawhe is a follower of the Rātana faith and said he spent the summer thinking about whānau and church, and that retiring from politics would give time to be more involved.
Rurawhe held the Te Tai Hauāuru seat, where Rātana is located, for nine years before it was taken by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
