Sir Apirana Ngata held the Eastern M?ori parliamentary seat from 1905 to 1943. Among his achievements were his schemes for consolidation of fragmented land titles, the development of unproductive land, M?ori health and welfare and the establishment of the Pioneer M?ori Battalion in World War I.

During the Depression he was Native minister in the United government and initiated schemes to develop non-productive land and provide employment opportunities for as many M?ori as possible. Sir Apirana's programmes made a huge contribution to M?ori morale and prosperity.

He has been unequivocally called the father of the action song. Early in his career he made translations of popular European songs of the day, like The Old Folks at Home into M?ori. Later he borrowed the tunes of the songs and added M?ori words of a differnt theme, From there it was a short step to add actions.

During World War 1, he popularised action songs by featuring them in concerts he organised all over NZ for the Maori Soldiers' Fund. According to the concert programs, these concerts included E te ope tuatahi, a "haka hou" (new haka) and Tomoana's Houa ra te waka nei (a canoe poi song) And at Hui Aroha held for the returning Maori soldiers Hoki hoki tonu mai and, possibly his most famous, Karangatia ra.

He died in July, 1950. People from all over New Zealand honoured him at his tangi. He is featured on the NZ $50 note.

From the PENZ website and from Mervyn McLean's book Maori Song 1996. There is a much longer article on Sir Apirana at the Dictionary of NZ Biography

He was elected to Parliament for the Eastern Maori seat in 1884, and his place in this seat was taken over by young Apirana Ngata in 1905. He was a strong empire loyalist, offering to lead a Maori contingent to the South African war of 1899--1902, and urging military training for all New Zealanders. He died at Gisborne in 1815.

Condensed from the Wiremu Pere article in the Dictionary of NZ Biography