Ned Parata receives his life membership from New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) president Douglas Spedding in 1943. Wiremu 'Ned' Teihoka Parata (Ngāi Tahu) has been described as the founding father of Māori rugby. Parata was the son of Tame Parata, member of the House of Representatives for Southern Māori. He convinced the NZRFU to establish a New Zealand Māori men's rugby team which toured Australia in 1910. He became founding president of the Bay of Plenty rugby union in 1911, holding the position until 1925. Parata managed the New Zealand Māori team on a number of overseas tours and was the first president of the NZRFU's Māori Advisory Board. He was also a member of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board. He received life membership of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 1943 and was made an OBE in 1948. Parata died in 1949 at the age of 71.