Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata (1874-1950) was a Maori leader, politician, and scholar who inspired improvements in official policy toward the Maori people in between 1905 and 1934.

Apirana Ngata was born on July 3, 1874, at Kawaka, the eldest son in a family of 15 children. He was educated at the Waiomatatini Maori School and Te Auta College, an Anglican school for Maori at Hawke's Bay. A scholarship took him to Canterbury University College, where he specialized in political science, and in 1893 he became the first Maori to graduate from the University of New Zealand. He received his master's degree the following year, and 2 years later he took his bachelor of laws degree and was admitted to the bar.

Ngata practiced for a few years as a lawyer, but having resolved to devote himself to improving the position of his people, he became travelling and organizing secretary of the Young Maori party, formed...