New Zealand's Māori crowns King's daughter as new queen, second female monarch in eight generations

New Zealand’s Māori crowned a new queen following the death of the tribe’s seventh monarch, King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII. The 27-year-old Ngā Wai hono i te pō was chosen as “Kuini” by a council of New Zealand’s Indigenous Māori chiefs during a ceremony in the country’s North Island.

With this, Nga Wai Hono i te Po Paki became the second-ever Māori queen in the eight-dynasty reign of the Kiingitanga movement in New Zealand. Following her father’s demise, the indigenous community called her the “new dawn”. Interestingly, the first female queen of Māori was her grandmother Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

Nga Wai Hono i te Po Paki is the youngest child of King Tuheitia who died in his sleep at the age of 69. She ascended the throne on the final morning of the six-day tangihanga (funeral) of her father, The Guardian reported. It is pertinent to note that the erstwhile monarch had two sons but the role is not automatically inherited.

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Who is the new queen of Māori?

Nga Wai Hono i te po Paki has a master’s degree in Māori cultural studies from Waikato University. She received her famous chin tattoo known as “moko kauae” at age 19 as a gift to her father. She is the second-youngest monarch in Māoridom and has been close to her father’s side in many events in the past several years.

The Kiingitanga dynasty was founded in 1858 as a force to resist colonisation and preserve the Māori culture and land. While the empire has no legal mandate and the monarch is largely a ceremonial position, the monarch is still considered to be the paramount chief of several tribes.

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Tekau-Maa-Rua chairman Che Wilson said Te Whakawahinga elucidated the importance of the ceremony, which dates back eight generations. “We follow the Tikanga of our ancestors who created the Kiingitanga to unify and uplift our people and we have chosen Nga Wai Hono i te po as our new monarch," Wilson averred.

Māori cause in the modern era

Since the electoral victory of New Zealand’s conservative National Party-led government in October, the group has played an important role in uniting the Indigenous community in opposition to proposed policies considered by many to be a rollback of Māori rights.

Last year, thousands protested across New Zealand against the government’s plans to reverse policies which boosted Indigenous rights, including plans to close the Māori Health Authority, which was set up during Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon lauded King Tuheitia as a leader “whose commitment to Māori and all New Zealanders has been felt right across the country”. However, he is currently in South Korea and skipped the funeral of the king.

It will be closely watched how the new queen will tackle these challenges. Te Tiriti o Waitangi lawyer Annette Sykes, who has been a strong advocate for Māori said that the new Queen represents the future.

“She’s inspiring, the revitalisation and reclamation of our language has been a 40 year journey for most of us and she epitomises that, it is her first language, she speaks it with ease. Political, economic and social wellbeing for our people is at the heart of what she wants and in many ways she is like her grandmother, who was adored by the nation," Sykes averred.

“We’ve all watched her grow up, she’s very humble, I’ve watched her mature into this woman who has this thirst for authentic knowledge and brings this into the modern world. She’s someone who wears Gucci, and she wears moko kauae. She is leading us into uncharted and turbulent waters, and she will do it with aplomb," she added.

With inputs from agencies.