
Māori leader and member of Parliament Apirana Ngata spent much of his life promoting aspects of Māori culture to fellow Māori and to non-Māori. This 1947 photo shows him at a meeting of the Polynesian Society, which he had joined 50 years earlier. He became a life member in 1920, was a leading contributor to its journal during the 1940s, and served as president from 1938 until his death in 1950. As a senior politician, Ngata helped to ensure that the society received public funding for its publications. From 1958 his son William maintained a Māori presence on the society's council.
Using this item
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Reference:
A.013027
Photograph by James Walter Chapman-Taylor
Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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