Broadcaster Haare Williams presents a two-part programme [mostly in English] about the beliefs of Te Hāhi Ringatū, the Ringatū Church and also a biography of its founder, Te Kooti Rikirangi.
He explains the significant dates observed by the church, known as rā - and then talks to church tōhunga Monita Delamere, at Omaio, who explains the importance of the day known as Te Hūrae, the 1st of July.
It is seen as the beginning of the season of growth.
The first of November, the harvest, is a date for thanksgiving for food.
Haare says he recalls as a child that nothing could be harvested from the ground or trees until after this date, Te Pūre. Monita says even the river is held until this date with nothing being fished until then.
The 1st of January observance has similarities to Passover and also is a date to offer thanks for the past year.
An archival recording of Wiremu Tarei [speaking at a Ringatū hui in Te Teko in the 1970s] is heard. He speaks about why the church founder Te Kooti Rikirangi saw the church and its hymns in te reo Māori would be a way of preserving te reo Māori. He says Ringatū hymns, known as pānui, are direct translations of passages from the Bible and sings an excerpt of one, taken from Psalms.
Tarei says Ringatū prayers, called īnoi, are also direct translations from the Bible. All must be learnt by heart - no services can be conducted from a book, enabling Ringatū followers to eventually be able to quote the Bible in full from Genesis to Revelations.
At Otuwhare Marae, Monita explains how for Te Whanau-a-Apanui, different Ringatū hui are held at different marae in turn. Followers assemble the evening before the rā, called onto the marae by the ringing of a bell instead of kāranga. No food is consumed until the rā is over and no one can arrive or leave the marae during this period, known at the kati.
Haare Williams describes the three-hour early morning service which begins at 4am. A breakfast hakari ends the kati and worshippers can then return to the everyday world.
In an archival recording, Wiremu Tarei explains Te Kooti gave Ringatū psalms old, traditional Māori tunes, which young Māori find hard to learn.
Te Kooti discouraged the building of separate Ringatū churches, as he believed Māori meeting houses were the heart and body of their communities and were where services should be held. One exception is at Maraenui, where a church was built as a memorial to children drowned on their way to school.
Monita Delamere explains that every activity has its own Ringatū karakia or prayer. Wiremu Tarei says the church is a good way to learn te reo Māori.
The second part of the programme begins with the archival recording of Wiremu Tarei explaining how traditional Māori tunes were used for Ringatū psalms by the church founder Te Kooti Rikirangi.
Henare Te Ua and Haare Williams present the story of Te Kooti's life. Hēni Sunderland of Gisborne adds some background about his descendants.
Other speakers on Te Kooti's life are Robert Biddle of Opōtiki, George Brown of Te Karaka and Wiremu Emery of Te Kuiti, who are descendants of people involved with Te Kooti in his lifetime.
Te Kooti's trial and exile in the Chatham Islands and his return to found the church, were foretold in a prophecy, so are not mourned by Ringatū followers. Hēni Sunderland explains Te Kooti was raised as an Anglican.
Henare Te Ua gives the background to Te Kooti's arrest and exile. An excerpt from a letter to Sir George Grey at the time of his pardon is read.
The massacre at Matawhero is described by Hēni Sunderland. Te Kooti's relationship with the Ngāi Tūhoe people is explained, the origins of the rā, or significant days observed by the church followers and the circuit of hui held at different marae.