rangatira

thumb|upright|Īhāia Te Kirikūmara (died 1873), a 19th-century

In Māori culture, '''''' () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land () and that of other tribes. Changes to land-ownership laws in the 19th century, particularly the individualisation of land title, undermined the power of rangatira, as did the widespread loss of land under the Euro-settler-oriented government of the Colony of New Zealand from 1841 onwards. The concepts of and (chieftainship), however, remain strong, and a return to and the uplifting of Māori by the system has been widely advocated for since the Māori renaissance began . Moana Jackson, Ranginui Walker and Tipene O'Regan figure among the most notable of these advocates.