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Apirana Turupa Ngata was born at Te Araroa on the East Coast on 3 July 1874. He had connections with the leaders of Ngati Porou. His hapu included Te Whanau-a-Te Ao, Ngati Rangi, Te Whanau-a-Karuai and Ngati Rakairoa. His father, Paratene Ngata, was a storekeeper, a progressive farmer, a Native Land Court assessor and an expert in tribal lore. His paternal great-uncle Rapata (Ropata) Wahawaha had led Ngati Porou troops on the side of the Crown during the wars of the 1860s. Apirana Ngata was greatly influenced by both men and spent some of his early years living in Rapata's household. Throughout his life he followed their policy of loyalty to the Crown and empire. His mother, Katerina Naki (or Enoka), was the daughter of an itinerant Scot, Abel Knox, and Ngata once said that this Pakeha ancestry was the source of his methodical habits, but otherwise he did not regard it as important. It was his upbringing as a Maori and a speaker of Maori, under the watchful care of Paratene and Rapata, that he valued more. Nevertheless, they were insistent that he be educated in the learning and skills of the Pakeha so that he could turn them to the benefit of Ngati Porou and the Maori people.
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