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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 9 (December 1, 1938)

Te Kooti as Religious Leader

Te Kooti as Religious Leader.

It was in 1867, when the deported Maoris had been on Wharekauri (Chatham Island) for about a year, that Te Kooti emerged from the ranks
(J.C., photo., at Ohinemutu, 1920.) Pirika Hohepa, a veteran soldier of the Arawa tribe.

(J.C., photo., at Ohinemutu, 1920.)
Pirika Hohepa, a veteran soldier of the Arawa tribe.

page 19 as a preacher and a leader. The lean, black-bearded exile became a student of the Bible, Maori translation, and he found many texts in the Psalms and other books of the Old Testament applicable to the Maoris’ condition. There was some consolation in the texts that promised the exiles a return to their own land. The Psalms of David formed the principal portion of his form of worship. The prayers of appeal and praise, in which many scores of voices united, were chanted very earnestly and held a mournful beauty that thrilled the hearts of the worshippers. Te Kooti held prophetic seances, too, and presently as the year 1868 opened and the summer passed, he predicted an early deliverance from exile by a vessel which God would send to the island.