ABSTRACT
Mormon missionaries attempted to preach to the Pakeha from as early as 1854, but they were almost completely unsuccessful. Yet the Mormon message made a very significant impact among the Maori. Mormons have prided themselves over the years for their success, where the orthodox churches failed, in making converts among several of the Maori tribes of New Zealand. In New Zealand, the issue of culture and cultural relationships between the indigenous Maori population and Pakeha is at a very sensitive stage. Historians in search of a simple general explanation have pointed to the correspondence between the Maori emphasis on whakapapa and whanau and the Mormon emphasis on genealogy and family and church community. The Maori tribes who responded to the Mormon message felt strongly on this issue. A far more obvious factor is that the restored gospel found sponsors within the Maori community.
