In 1925, Apirana Ngata introduced dairy farming to the Ngati Porou people. This was very popular.
Then to ensure the farm mortagages were paid, he had the East Coast hotels closed. This was not popular!

Tera te mahi pai rawa E ki ia ana mai, He mahi ra e put ai Nga moni nuinui noa! E whanga ra, e tama ma, Ki nga pei marama - Kua riro ke I nga nama, Aue nga wawata! Chorus E rere ra te kirimi, Ki rota ki nga Kena nei! Kia tika hawerewere Kei rere parorirori, Kia rite ai nga nama! Tera nga tino momo kau E ki ia ana mai, Kei Taranaki ra ano, Na Maui Pomare! Ko nga kau ra i rere ai Te Nati ki te hao! He rau mahau, he rau maku, Ka ea nga wawata! Tera te pata rongo nui He Nati te ingoa Te wahi ra, i mahia ai Ko Ruatoria! Hara-mai ra Te Pirimia Mahau te kawanga E pono ai te mahi nei He mahi kai ano.

There's some really good work We've been told about, Work that will make us Lots and lots of money! Just wait, you fellows, For your monthly pay - But our debts have taken it, So much for our dreams! Chorus Flow on, cream, Into those cans! Go straight in, Don't go crooked, So our debts can be paid! There are some pedigree cows We've been told about, Over in Taranaki. They belong to Maui Pomare! They're the cows the Nati Rushed to get hold of! A hundred for you, a hundred for me, And our dreams will be realized! There's some famous butter, "Nati" is its name. The place where they make it Is Ruatoria! Welcome, Prime Minister, You are to perfoirn The opening ceremony For this food-producing work.

Maori dairy farms

Ngata was inspired by Taranaki dairy farms like this one.

In the mid-1920s, Apirana Ngata established farming schemes among his Ngati Porou people on the East Coast. This enabled them to arrange finance, and then stock the land with sheep and dairy cattle.

Ngata made dairying a particular objective of this work. Using government mortgages, Ngata had 660 Jersey heifers and calves and 36 pedigree bulls brought from Taranaki in late 1924.

In 1925 the Ngati Porou Co-operative Dairy Company was founded with a factory at Ruatoria. Its 58 suppliers producing 61 tons of butter in its first season.

By 1937 there were 377 suppliers producing 744 tons of butter. The butter was branded 'Nati.'

The Cream Song was written by Apirana Ngata himself when the Prime Minister, Gordon Coates, visited the dairy factory in 1926.

Coates was impressed. He advanced additional state funds and rewarded Ngata with a knighthood in the 1927 Honours list.

Paying the mortagage

About the time that Coates visited the East Coast, enthusiasm for paying off mortagages waned, so Ngata financed the payback of the dairy farm mortgages through a two-year prohibition on alcohol. The money that was not spent in the pubs could go to pay the mortagages on the dairy herds.

This had the enthusiastic support of Ngati Porou women, but not of all the men. Clearing the land, plowing, fencing, milking and separating cream, all by hand, was back-breaking and lonely work. A sociable evening with friends in a warm hotel bar was a great help in keeping up the farmers' morale.

So Ngata was opposed in his prohibition, particularly by Tamati Kaiwai, who attacked him on the marae, and later, according to Amiria Manutahi Stirling, was the one who composed this aggressive haka, Poropeihana.

At that time, the words used would have degraded Ngata's mana, so Ngata sometimes led this haka himself to dampen the personal sting.

Ee...Ko Apirana Ngata ra te tangata Takarure mai ra i nga ture i roto o Poneke! Horohia mai ō ture ki ahau Horohia mai ō ture ki ahau Tu ana te Minita ki waenganui! Tu ana te Minita ki waenganui! Õ ture patua ki runga ki te tekoteko 1 o te Whare e tu mai na Mahi hamupaka koia raka! Ture kaunihera koia raka! Poropeihana koia raka! Ka minamina au ki te waipiro ka hokona i te pō! Purari paka! Kaura mokai e! Homai o ture kia wetewete! Kia wetewete!

Ee...Apirana Ngata, you're the man making changes to the laws in Wellington! Spread out your laws for me! Let's have a look at those documents! The Prime Minister was standing in our midst! X2 Your destructive laws are over-riding the traditional customs of the community right here. A load of humbug is what we have! Council by-laws are what we have! Prohibition is what we have! I want to be able to go to the pub To buy a drink at night! You bloody bugger! Lowlife coward! Give your laws to us so we can analyse them! And sort all this out!

¹ Te tekoteko o te Whare.
A wharenui is the symbol of the stable unified community,
and its tekoteko figurehead symbolizes the customary laws which keep the community stable.