Te Kīngitanga
Origins of the Māori King movement
The Kīngitanga, the Māori King movement, was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting Māori under a single sovereign. Waikato is the seat of the Kīngitanga.
Traditionally, Māori had no central monarchy. Iwi and hapū were independent and were led by rangatira. During the 1850s, the pressure from European settlement combined with lack of Māori political power motivated Māori to unify the tribes under a sovereign.
In 1853, Mātene Te Whiwhi and Tāmihana Te Rauparaha began travelling around Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island, looked for a rangatira to become king. In 1856, at Pūkawa, on the southern shores of Lake Taupō, the Waikato chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was nominated as king. He did not agree immediately. In 1858, he was declared king at Ngāruawāhia.
Historic importance of the Māori King movement
Tāwhiao was the second king. He became king in 1860 when his father, Pōtatau, died. Tāwhiao was the king through the Waikato Wars. This was a key time for the King movement.
In 1863, government troops invaded Waikato. Tāwhiao and his followers retreated into what became (and is still) known as the King Country. In 1881, they returned to Waikato. Tāwhiao travelled to meet Queen Victoria in London in 1884 to seek support for the return of confiscated lands.
Tāwhiao also initiated poukai, annual visits to Kīngitanga marae, and established the Kauhanganui (Kīngitanga parliament).
Tāwhiao died in 1894 and was replaced by his son, Mahuta. Mahuta died in 1912, and was succeeded by his son, Te Rata. Te Rata also travelled to London to meet the British Crown directly, but King George V told him the land confiscations were an issue for the New Zealand government.
Korokī became king in 1933 when his father, Te Rata, died. He hosted Queen Elizabeth II on Tūrangawaewae in 1953.
When Korokī died in 1966, his daughter, Piki, was crowned as Queen Te Atairangikaahu. She served until her death in August 2006, whereupon her son succeeded her.
Who was Kīngi Tūheitia?
Kingi Tuheitia (1955-2024), full regnal name Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, birth name Tūheitia Paki, reigned as the Māori King from 2006 until his death on 30 August 2024 at the age of 69. His death came less than two weeks after hosting his eighteenth koroneihana, the annual celebration of his coronation. He had been recovering in hospital from cardiac surgery. By order of the New Zealand government, all flags on government and public buildings were flown at half-mast. His body lay in state at the official royal residence of Tūrangawaewae marae. After the enthronement of Nga Wai Hono i te Pō, Tūheitia’s body was carried in a procession down to the Waikato River, where it was placed onto the waka Tātahi Ora. The waka travelled ten kilometres down the river over two hours to Taupiri Mountain, where he was buried in an unmarked grave. Māori monarchs are buried in unmarked graves as a sign of equality with their people.
Kīngi Tūheitia was a keen advocate for reduction of incarceration rates among Māori and support for Māori offenders’ reintegration into their communities. He hosted foreign dignitaries, such as King Charles III, accompanied Helen Clark to New York when she was made director of the United Nations Development Programme, was the patron to Te Matatini, and attended many Māori, domestic and international public events every year. He traditionally only spoke publicly once a year at the annual celebrations in Ngāruawāhia of his coronation. He maintained the customs of poukai and the kauhanganui established by Tāwhiao.
Who is the new Māori Queen?
The Māori monarchy is not hereditary by right, so leaders of tribes associated with the Kīngitanga gathered to elect Tūheitia’s successor during his tangi (funeral rites). Nga Wai Hono i te Pō was elected as her father’s successor. During the process of Te Whakawahinga, by which she was acclaimed as Queen, the original 1858 Bible of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was used.
Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō is twenty-seven years old. She played a key part in overseeing the Kīngitanga’s taonga collection, is proficient in kapa haka and earned a Master’s degree in tikanga and te reo Māori from the University of Waikato.