Te Kingitanga - the Maori Monarchy
On 23 May 2006, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Dame Te Ata) celebrated 40 years as Māori Queen and leader of the Kingitanga - the Māori Monarch Movement. In a show of strength typical of Dame Te Ata, she though very frail and obviously unwell, appeared before the masses who had gathered on her beloved Turangawaewae Marae, to join with them in the celebration of this majestic milestone.
Within three months, the crowds again returned to Turangawaewae Marae, near Hamilton, this time in numbers not ever witnessed before. The gentle strength that Dame Te Ata had become famed, respected and admired for had finally diminished and on 15 August 2006, Dame Te Ata passed away, leaving the Kingitanga leaderless and Māoridom at the loss of a much loved Queen.
For six days Dame Te Ata lay in state at Turangawaewae and from each corner of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and beyond, her people came to farewell her. Māori from every tribe in the country, embarked upon Turangawaewae to pay their respects to the fallen monarch. Large numbers of non-Māori were also in attendance, a great tribute to a leader who perpetuated the spirit of unity - the underlying philosophy of the Kingitanga
The Kingitanga can trace its origins back to the 1850's, to a time of upheaval and great land loss for Māori at the hands of the new Zealand Government. Māori were losing land at an astounding rate and this had resulted in bitter inter tribal fighting.
In 1852, Tamihana Te Rauparaha, son of famous Ngati Toa chief, Te Rauparaha, returned from a visit to England, where he had met with Queen Victoria. He brought with him a firm belief that the establishment of a Māori monarchy to unite this very proud and tribal people was the only way to stem the land loss and for Māori to resist the impending pressures of colonialism. So the search for a king began.
Many prominent Māori chiefs who were asked to lead the Kingitanga declined. Some could not see the value in a monarchy and were reluctant to align themselves with a movement of such European design. In April 1857 however, after being nominated by many prominent chiefs and also declining the proposition himself several times before, Potatau Te Wherowhero, an esteemed chief of Waikato, agreed to be king.
Potatau was crowned and annointed King at Ngaruawahia in June 1858 and the Kingitanga was born. Though well into his twilight years, Potatau was a celebrated warrior of some distinction and respected throughout Aotearoa, in both Māori and Pakeha circles. As part of his acceptance speech, Potatau emphasised the importance of unity to the effectiveness of the Kingitanga movement and this belief was embodied by the proclamation of his now famous whakatauākī (proverb) 'Kotahi te kōhao o te ngira, e kuhuna ai, te miro mā, te miro pango me te miro whero' (There is but one eye of the needle through which white, black and red threads must pass).
Many chiefs of the North Island realised the benefit of a central union and willingly submitted land and allegiances to the realm of Potatau and the Kingitanga. In June 1860, having for two years been the driving force behind a movement that was gaining momentum by the day, King Potatau Te Wherowhero died at his home in Ngaruawahia.
Potatau was succeeded by his son Matutaera Tāwhiao. Tāwhiao took the throne at a very challenging and crucial time for the Kingitanga. War had begun in Taranaki between Māori and colonial forces and the Government had firmly pointed the finger of blame at the Kingitanga, even though this was a war Tawhiao opposed, just as his father had before him. In July 1863, colonial troops, on a push to occupy Kingitanga lands, crossed the Mangatawhiri stream. Mangatawhiri was the boundary Potatau had set as an aukati - a line not to be crossed and in doing so had warned that any breach of this line would be seen as an act of war. The invasion of the Waikato had begun.
The Waikato wars raged through the 1860s. Many lives were lost and 1.2 million acres of Māori land was confiscated. During the wars, Tāwhiao and the Kingitanga forces were driven into exile to an area that is now known as the King Country. The movement had suffered heavy losses but through the guiding hand of Tāwhiao and the emergence of Pai Marire - a Maori spiritual movement based on Christianity, the Kingitanga survived to eventually prosper once again.
Tāwhiao moved to end the fighting in 1865 but campaigned relentlessly against injustice and for the return of confiscated lands until his death in 1894. Tāwhiao had left a legacy of a movement gaining political traction and a strong religious principle upon which a vision for his people could be based. He had led the Kingitanga through times of immense hardship, grief and pain to a position where the future of his subjects had a solid foundation.
In 1894, Tāwhiao was succeeded by his son Māhuta as the Kingitanga moved into the 20th century. Māhuta was succeeded upon his death in 1912 by his son Te Rata. Te Rata died in 1933 and was succeeded by his son, Korokī. When Korokī died in 1966, he was succeeded by his daughter, Te Atairangikaahu - who was crowned the first Māori Queen.
Though the Kingitanga headship has been passed down without interruption through the line of Potatau Te Wherowhero, it is not a hereditary right. It is left for the leaders of all the tribes connected to the Kingitanga to determine. Consequently, in the tradition left by the ancestors, the great orators and heads of tribes stood, at the tangi (funeral) of Dame Te Ata, to decide who should lead the Kingitanga. On 21 August 2006, Māori leaders confirmed their support for a continuation of the current line and Tuheitia Paki, eldest son of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu was annointed Māori King.
Te Arikinui Tuheitia Paki, by all accounts shares the qualities that endeared his late mother to so many. He is steeped in tikanga (Māori custom and protocol) and te Reo Māori (Māori language) and is seen as a person who without question, will devote his life to his people, in the great tradition of his ancestors before him. He has been groomed for the role of King, in the past appearing on his mother's behalf at important regal engagements.
23 August will now mark the new date of the Koroneihana - the annual celebration of the coronation of the Māori monarch, held at Turangawaewae Marae on the banks of the Waikato River. Waka (canoe) regattas, sporting events, kapahaka, music and most importantly the gathering of the many tribes linked to the Kingitanga make for a festival like no other and a celebration unique to Te Rohe Pōtae - The dominion of the Kingitanga.
|
