Story: Weekends

Māori sabbath observance, Opanaki, 1880s

Māori sabbath observance, Opanaki, 1880s

Māori gather for a Sunday service at the Catholic chapel at Opanaki (later renamed Kaihū), in Northland, in the 1880s. From the 1820s many Māori, both Christian and non-Christian, adopted the Pākehā concept of a day of rest on the seventh day of the week. Christian Māori were often stricter in their sabbath observance than many Pākehā. Most Māori held their sabbath on a Sunday, but followers of prophetic movements such as Papahurihia and Ringatū followed the Jewish practice of a Saturday sabbath.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, G. M. Preston Collection
Reference: PA1-o-423-06-1

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.

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How to cite this page:

Peter Clayworth, 'Weekends - Origins of the weekend – the Sunday sabbath', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/39774/maori-sabbath-observance-opanaki-1880s (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 5 Sep 2013