Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po will make her first royal address today – day four of Koroneihana – breaking a year-long public silence in keeping with tikanga of observing a period of mourning following the death of the late Kingi Tuheitia.
The anticipation on the ground has been building over the course of the week.
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Ngātiwai leader Aperahama Edwards said it was best summed up by what he was hearing from rangatahi in his iwi.
“They look upon Te Arikinui as a pillar of hope. We see a lot of hope and so we’re really eager and excited to hear her words [today], and to be here to demonstrate our aroha and commitment to the long pursuit of kotahitanga, and we see it today.
“We saw it through the endeavours of Kingi Tuheitia and that same promise is burning brightly and emanating from Te Arikinui.”
Guest reinforce the Kiingitanga’s strong diplomatic ties and Pacific support for the new monarch. (Source: 1News)
Over the course of twelve months she has made appearances at events, including her first visit to Te Waipounamu as queen to attend the final hui ā-motu hosted by Ngāi Tahu in November.
Since then, she has travelled extensively around the country as well as the Pacific, taking the memory of her dad with her and upholding the custom of kawe mate.
Kiingitanga spokesperson Rahui Papa said it was important for Te Arikinui and her immediate whānau to make the effort of visiting the various regions, including poukai – annual series of visits to Kiingitanga marae.
“There’s been 30 poukai,” he said, “We’ve been to just about every major tangi across the country. She’s done international visits at the request and behest of our Pasifika cousins. There’s been hui, major kaupapa around the country.”
In terms of adjusting to the role of becoming queen, Papa said she’s held herself with dignity in being able to embrace tradition as well as “futuristic aspects” of Kiingitanga.
When asked if she has brought any new ideas to the role he said people will have to wait for future events to be able to tell.
“Intrinsically, there are some traditions that our knuckles will go white trying to hold on to, you know? But there will be different ways of manifestation of those old kawa into a new age sort of thinking.”
He said during Dame Te Atairangikaahu’s time radio was a big communication tool, and in Kingi Tuheitia’s it was TV. Now with the rise of social media and AI the Kiingitanga will have to “roll with the times”, and Kuini Nga wai is a “wahine rangatahi” up to task.
“She knows the play of te ao hurihuri as it relates to te ao kōwhatu with te ao hurihuri and I think that she brings them together.”
It’s the first time a prime minister hasn’t visited during the week of koroneihana in years. (Source: 1News)
Papa, who has now lived through at least three Māori monarchs – Kuini Nga wai, her father Kingi Tuheitia, and her grandmother, Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu – said each of the young queen’s predecessors brought something different to the role in terms of leadership, but Kuini Nga wai is the first monarch to have been educated in a modern Māori-medium education system.
“This is the first Arikinui to have gone through the kōhanga reo movement, through the kura kaupapa Māori movement, to attain qualifications at a university, basically in te reo Māori, coupled with tikanga, coupled with history, all of that sort of stuff, so she’s well-grounded in the historical aspect.”
The kōhanga reo generation are generally referred to Māori under the age of 45 who grew up during the language revitalisation efforts that gave birth to the kōhanga reo movement in the 1980s, followed closely by kura kaupapa Māori, creating a pathway of immersion learning for tamariki.
Glossary
koroneihana – coronation
kawe mate – literally ‘carry the dead’, a custom where the memory or spirit of a person who has died is ‘carried’, usually in the form of a photo, to other marae and events to be acknowledged
rangatahi – young person, youth
motu – country (in article context)
mate – death, illness, deceased (in article context)
tangi – cry, mourn; funeral
kotahitanga – unity
poukai – Kiingitanga hui held on marae where people demonstrate their support and loyalty to the Kiingitanga, contributions to the cause are made, and discussions are held.