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Story: Whāngai – customary fostering and adoption

Hōne Heke Ngāpua

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Hōne Heke Ngāpua

This portrait of Hōne Heke Ngāpua was taken around 1904. Ngāpua, from Ngāpuhi, was a member of Parliament, holding the Northern Māori seat. He voiced Māori concerns over people who were raised as whāngai receiving shares in land from both their birth parents and their mātua whāngai (whāngai parents).

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Mrs D. Prosser Collection

Reference: PAColl-D-0011

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

Basil Keane, Whāngai – customary fostering and adoption – Whāngai and the law, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31035/hone-heke-ngapua (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 10 May 2011, updated 1 June 2017.