Although most Maoris now follow the same religious professions as Europeans, two indigenous religious systems continue to attract adherents. These are the Ratana Church, founded by T. W. Ratana, and the Ringatu Church, founded by Te Kooti Rikirangi. To a large extent their doctrines are outgrowths from the Hauhauism of the 1860s, which blended Biblical teachings and traditional Maori beliefs. The basic theology of most Maori cults has been derived from the identification of the Hebrew Jehovah with Io, an important figure in Polynesian mythology. From this point certain Maori leaders found it possible to correlate their own word-of-mouth genealogies with similar or parallel genealogies in the Old Testament, and to identify their traditional beliefs with portions of the Scriptures. In this connection the many similarities between Maori traditions and Mormon teachings probably account for the success which has attended the latter's appeal to portions of the Maori population. The following table includes relative strengths of various Maori religious sects.

Maori Religious Professions