I ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1900, kei raro te Māori e putu ana. I taua wā, kei raro iho te taupori Māori i te e 50,000, te tatauranga paku rawa mō te iwi, i roto i te tatauranga e 800,00 mō te taupori whānui. Nā te iti o te taupori, ka heke te awe o te Māori ki runga i ngā nekeneke o te motu.
Nō te rau tau 1900 tonu, ka ara mai ngā tipua o te iwi Māori, a Tā Āpirana Ngata, a Tā Māui Pōmare, a Te Puea Hērangi, a Te Rangihīroa, arā noa atu. I te paunga o te tekau tau atu i 1890, ka waihangahia te Rōpū Taitamariki Māori hei whakakaha i te ahurea me te taha tōrangapū o te ao Māori.
Tā Āpirana Ngata
Ko Tā Āpirana Ngata te tauira taiea mō rātou te hunga i whakapau kaha kia kake anō te iwi Māori ki runga i ngā tūpuhitanga o te rau tau 1800.
Mahia ai e Āpirana Ngata mā ā rātou mahinga nui i ngā tau 1900 ki te 1950. Ko ētahi o ngā kaupapa maha i tutuki e rātou ko:
- te kuhu ki roto Paremata (he wā anō ka ekea te rūnanga kāwanatanga)
- te whakatū i te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Pioneer Battalion) me Te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion) i ngā pakanga e rua o te ao
- te whakarerekē a Te Rangihīroa rāua ko Pōmare i te rāngai hauora
- te whakahōu i nga ritenga mō te pupuri whenua.
Nā Ngata anō i arataki te aranga o ngā mātauranga me ngā tikanga Māori. Nā rāua ko Pei Te Hurinui Jones o Ngāti Maniapoto te mahi nui ki te rangahau me te whakapukapuka i ngā waiata tawhito a te Māori ki Ngā Mōteatea; e whā ngā wāhanga o tēnei mahi nui. Nā Ngata ka tū te maha o ngā whare whakairo puta noa i te motu; nāna hoki ka whakapaipaitia ētahi atu whare.