Early Life
An entertainer from an early age, she was a member of the Rātana haka, poi, and waiata groups and travelled with them throughout New Zealand and overseas. In 1925, she married Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana to become his second wife and had two children. Hamuera, the oldest died from tuberculosis in 1934, and the second, Raniera Te Aohou Ratana later became head of the Rātana church.
Following her husband's death in 1939, Rātana married Matiu Rātana, a son of T. W. Rātana. The couple farmed until the death in 1945 of Matiu's elder brother, Haami Tokouru Rātana who was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Māori seat of Western Maori. Matiu Rātana was elected in the 1945 election and held the seat until his accidental death in 1949.
Read more about this topic: Iriaka Matiu Ratana
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“The truth is, I do indulge myself a little the more in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it; and, out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world do forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too late for them to enjoy it.”
—Samuel Pepys (1633–1703)