When they died, T. W. Ratana is believed to have grown into their ‘power’. Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana was born in 1873 at Parewanui Pa, towards the mouth of the Rangitikei River. He was the son of a prosperous ‘gentleman farmer’ of aristocratic descent. He is reported to have been moody, impulsive and wild as a lad; he rode horses furiously, and drank heavily. But when he was in the mood for work, there was no ploughman or stacker in the district to equal him. When Ratana was a boy, his aunt Mere Rikiriki, a locally known prophetess and faith-healer, made a prophecy that he was the one, spoken of by Te Whiti and other prophets, who would arise to lead his people. He visited his aunt often, gaining some knowledge of the psychology of faith-healing and, it is said, something of her power. Some other important influences in his life were the Church of England and loyalty to the crown from his father's side, and Methodism, interest in Te Whiti and a bitterness against the Government from his mother and wife.

The Dispossessed The social conditions to be found amongst most of the Maori people at this time are well known. In North Auckland, the Bay of Plenty, the Waikato and in the South Island, frequently landless, backward, withdrawn from educational influences and often very bitter, the people waited the coming of a new messianic leader. Apirana Ngata, Maui Pomare, Peter Buck and many others had done very much to help, but at this time they were still fighting a very hard battle. Tribal antagonisms were still strong, and in many districts the great mass of people, the morehu, remained stubbornly aloof from developmental schemes, educational and otherwise. Nor was help always available. Superstition was widespread, and tohunga were making capital out of the illness of the people. The First World War unsettled them still further. In the spring of 1918 the great influenza epidemic struck New Zealand. It carried off five times as many Maoris as Europeans; most of T. W. Ratana's relatives died among the rest. The remedies of tohunga and doctor alike were ineffective, and the people's morale was badly shaken. In this time of great unhappiness, ‘voices’ came to Ratana. Periods of apparent insanity and heavy drinking alternated with reading of religious literature and meditating. Then, Apotoro (‘Apostles’) of the Church in front of the Temple; Sir Eruera Tirikatene, M.P., in a discussion at Ratana Pa; Mrs Puhi Ratahi, President of the Church, addressing a meeting in the evening.