The Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute was originally a Department of Tourism concept proposed to take the place of the loss of the Pink and White Terraces in 1886. It was to be the new tourism icon in Rotorua. The Tohunga Suppression Act of 1907 typified the assimilation of Māori and in many ways became a turning point for Māori development and cultural revitalisation. Through the work of Tā Apirana Ngata, the member of Parliament for Eastern Māori then, legislation was passed in Parliament in 1926, which saw the birth of a predecessor organisation to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute and the original carving school, Te Ao Mārama.