Te Kooti

Maori leader
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Also known as: Te Kooti Rikirangi
Quick Facts
Born:
c. 1830, Poverty Bay, North Island, N.Z.
Died:
1893, Bay of Plenty
Also Known As:
Te Kooti Rikirangi
Founder:
Ringatū

Te Kooti (born c. 1830, Poverty Bay, North Island, N.Z.—died 1893, Bay of Plenty) was a Maori guerrilla and founder of the Ringatu religious movement in New Zealand. Imprisoned on the Chatham Islands, he studied the Old Testament and in December 1867 announced that he had been divinely commanded to found a new church. The following year he escaped and for several years led a guerrilla band. He was granted amnesty in 1883.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.