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Biography: Rua Kēnana Hepetipa

Rua Kēnana Hepetipa meeting with Joseph Ward on the beach at Whakatāne, March 1908

Rua Kēnana Hepetipa with Joseph Ward

Rua Kēnana Hepetipa's meeting with Joseph Ward on the beach at Whakatāne in March 1908 was later described as the 'Ceremony of Union': Rua accepted Ward's argument that there could be no separate Māori government but concluded that there would be the same laws for Māori and Pākehā.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-015708; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page

Judith Binney. 'Rua Kēnana Hepetipa', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1763/rua-kenana-hepetipa-with-joseph-ward (accessed 21 June 2026).