Christianity

The arrival of European missionaries in New Zealand had an immeasurable impact on Māori society. Like Them That Dream tells the intriguing story of early interaction between Māori and missionary, leading to the many distinctive responses to the arrival of Christianity. The book’s first two parts consider how the Christian word was spread and how Māori responded, explaining the identification they felt with the Israelites of the Old Testament. The third part relates the rise of indigenous religious movements, from the early Papahurihia through Pai Marire, Ringatu and the Parihaka Movement, and the later incarnations of the Arowhenua Movement in the South Island and what remains today’s leading Māori church, Ratana...

You Got Questions? Who is God How did the World begin? Why is there so much trouble in the world? How can i go to heaven someday?..

Huia e huia, tangata kotahi! Huia, your destiny is to bring everyone together! Māori proverb Once the sacred guardian of New Zealand’s native forests, the huia was a symbol of the land’s unique beauty and spirituality. The rare bird’s tragic extinction in the early 1900s represents a shot to the heart of Aotearoa and is a potent metaphor for a country’s conflicted history. Using the story of the untimely extinction of the huia, Jay Ruka offers a fresh perspective on the narrative of Aotearoa; a tale of two cultures, warring worldviews, and the things we lost in translation. Revisiting the early missionaries, the transformative message of the gospel and the cultural missteps of the Treaty of Waitangi, Huia Come Home invites us to reconnect with the unique story offered by the indigenous Māori lens. In relearning the history that lies in the soil of Aotearoa, we might just find a shared hope for the future and a recovery of national treasures once thought to be extinct...