Rātana Pā, or Ratana Community, is a town in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

of New Zealand, near

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

and Marton in the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

region. The locality was the farm of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of a Maori religious and political movement, and the settlement developed in the 1920s as followers came to see Rātana. It continues as the centre of the

Rātana The Rātana movement ( mi, Te Haahi Rātana) is a church and pan-''iwi'' political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana Pā nea ...

Church. Due to the importance of the Rātana movement in New Zealand politics, leading New Zealand politicians often attend annual gatherings at Rātana Pā.

Location

Rātana Pā is 20 km south-east of

, 5 km west of Turakina and 19 km west of Marton. It lies between State Highway 3 and the coast.

History

Rātana Pā is on what was the farm of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of the

religious and political movement and the Rātana Church. The locality became a settlement of Rātana followers in the 1920s. Facilities at Rātana Pā include the 1,000-seat ''Temepara Tapu o Ihoa'' (Holy Temple of Jehovah), the ''Manuao'' (an accommodation facility and head office of the church), the ''Whare Māori'' (which contains crutches and wheelchairs from followers who were healed by Rātana in the 1920s and 1930s) and the Ratana Archives Center, which contains artifacts and stories from the history of the Rātana Church. 25 January and 8 November are anniversary days of the Rātana Church. On these days thousands of members of the church converge on Rātana Pā for the special anniversary services commemorating the birth of Rātana (25 January 1873) and his first spiritual vision (8 November 1918). The gathering for the birth anniversary lasts for a week, with the highlight being the Temple Service on 25 January. Usually, Members of Parliament (MPs) visit on 24 January to talk and seek the votes of Māori.

Government and politics

Local government

Rātana Pā is in the Southern ward of

Rangitikei District The Rangitikei District is a territorial authority district located primarily in the Manawatū-Whanganui region in the North Island of New Zealand, although a small part, the town of Ngamatea (13.63% by land area), lies in the Hawke's Bay Reg ...

, which elects three of the eleven members of the Rangitikei District Council. There is also a Rātana Community Board, one of two community boards in the District (the other being for

Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town. History and culture Earl ...

). The Board has four elected members and one appointed councillor from the Southern ward.

National government

Rātana Pā, like the rest of the Rangitikei District, is located in the general electorate of Rangitīkei and in the Māori electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru. Rangitīkei is a safe National Party seat since the 1938 election with the exception of 1978–1984 when it was held by

Bruce Beetham Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s. A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Coll ...

of the Social Credit Party. Since 2011 it is held by Ian McKelvie. Te Tai Hauāuru is a more volatile seat, having been held by three different parties since

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, i.e.

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Wi ...

, the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and the Labour Party. Since

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

it is held by Adrian Rurawhe of the Labour Party.

Demographics

Rātana is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It is part of the wider Turakina statistical area, which covers . The population of Rātana was 345 in the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sh ...

, an increase of 18 (5.5%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 21 (-5.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 153 males and 192 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.8 males per female. Ethnicities were 42 people (12.2%) European/Pākehā, 330 (95.7%) Māori, 15 (4.3%) Pacific peoples, and 3 (0.9%) Asian (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Of the total population, 66 people (19.1%) were under 15 years old, 84 (24.3%) were 15–29, 159 (46.1%) were 30–64, and 39 (11.3%) were over 65.

Transport

State Highway 3 State Highway 3 NZ

is located 2 km to the northeast of Rātana Pā. This national state highway connects Woodville (25 km east of

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

) and Hamilton via

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at ma ...

runs three daily and six non-daily services at the Ratana Turn Off stop. These include Palmerston North–

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

–New Plymouth and Auckland–Palmerston North. The nearest airport is Whanganui Airport, located 22 km to the northwest of the town.

Education

Te Kura o Ratana is a state-integrated co-educational Rātana Church primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The nearest secondary schools are in Whanganui and Marton.

Table footnotes

References

External links

Ratana church history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratana Pa Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Rangitikei District