Two Temples, One Statute

An essay on the two temples of 1907 and the statute between them. In the Urewera, the Tūohe prophet Rua Kēnana's followers built Hīona at Maungapōhatu: a circular council chamber painted in blue clubs and yellow diamonds, modelled on the Dome of the Rock, at the heart of a community of eight hundred to a thousand people. In Havelock North, the Stella Matutina built Whare Ra — the last purpose-built Golden Dawn temple in the world, its roll including two Anglican bishops and a Governor-General, closed on its own terms in August 1978. Between them stood the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907: fifty-five years, nine convictions, its named target never prosecuted under it, repealed in 1962. The Crown formally pardoned Rua Kēnana a century after the raid. Read in full on the Writings page.