The seal of the Ringatū Church, founded by Te Kooti in 1867, was designed in 1926 by the church's secretary, Robert Biddle. It shows the upraised hands (ringa tū) that symbolise the church. The open Bible in the centre is inscribed 'Te Kawenata Tawhito' and 'Te Kawenata Hou' (the Old Testament and New Testament), and 'Wharekauri 67' on the left refers to the date and place of the founding of the faith. Wharekauri is the Māori name for the Chatham Islands, where Te Kooti was imprisoned along with several hundred others. 'Wainui 26' on the right refers to the formal establishment of the Ringatū Church at Te Wainui on the Ōhiwa Harbour, Bay of Plenty, in 1926.
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The Journal of the Polynesian Society
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