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Kīngitanga – the Māori King movement

by Rahui Papa and Paul Meredith

One of New Zealand’s most enduring political institutions, the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement) was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting Māori under a single sovereign. Waikato is the seat of the Kīngitanga. The early years of the reign of the second king, King Tāwhiao, were dominated by the New Zealand wars of the 1860s. The longest-serving Māori monarch has been the beloved Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who reigned for 40 years until her death in 2006.


Origins of the Kīngitanga

The Kīngitanga or Māori King movement, which originated in 1858 with the crowning of Kīngi Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, is one of the most enduring of the Māori institutions that emerged in colonial times, and one of the longest-running political organisations in New Zealand. Kīngi Tūheitia is the current and seventh sovereign.

The idea of a king

There was no single Māori sovereign when Europeans first came to New Zealand. Instead, hapū Māori  functioned independently under the leadership of their own rangatira. However, by the 1850s Māori were faced with increasing numbers of British settlers, political marginalisation and growing demand from the Crown to purchase their lands. Māori were divided between those who were prepared to sell and those who were not. 

Some Māori attributed the power of the British to their one sovereign. This idea was particularly common among men who had travelled to England and had seen British institutions, industry and law and order in operation, such as Piri Kawau (Te Āti Awa), who met Queen Victoria in 1843, and Tāmihana Te Rauparaha (Ngāti Toa), who met her in 1852. They believed that a pan-tribal movement, unifying the Māori people under one sovereign equal to the Queen of England, could bring an end to intertribal conflict, keep Māori land in Māori hands and provide a separate governing body for Māori.

Both Kawau and Tāmihana initially thought they might become king. However, Kawau had admitted to Queen Victoria that Pōtatau Te Wherowhero of Waikato was the most powerful rangatira in New Zealand, while Tāmihana was reminded by his father, the famous rangatira Te Rauparaha, that his people had been forced to leave Kāwhia by the powerful Waikato.

Right of refusal

Te Kani a Takirau from the East Coast famously refused the kingship, saying:

Ko taku maunga ko Hikurangi,
He maunga tū tonu
Ehara i te maunga haere.
Ko tōku Kīngitanga
Nō tua whakarere,
Nō aku tīpuna o te Pō!

My mountain is Hikurangi,
It is an enduring mountain,
It is not a mountain that travels.
My kingship is from time immemorial,
Handed down from my ancestors.1

The search for a king

From 1853 Mātene Te Whiwhi of Ngāti Raukawa, assisted by Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, travelled around the central North Island promoting the idea of a Māori king for the Māori people. Te Whiwhi looked to the ariki, first approaching Tōpia Tūroa, paramount rangatira of Whanganui. Tūroa replied, ‘I must decline. My mountain is Matemate-a-onga. My sea is Whanganui, the fish in it are the toitoi and white-bait.’2

Tūroa suggested Iwikau Te Heuheu, the paramount rangatira of Ngāti Tūwharetoa of the Taupō region. Te Heuheu responded, ‘Tongariro is the mountain, Taupō is the sea and Te Heuheu is the man. He stands in the middle of the Island and toward him flow the rivers from all sides. Look, the fish of those waters are kōkopu, kōura and kōaro.’3 Te Heuheu in turn suggested Te Amohau of Te Arawa, who also declined, saying, ‘My mountain is Ngongotahā, Rotorua is the sea, and the fish in it are kōura, kākahi and īnanga.’4 Te Amohau suggested Te Hāpuku of Ngāti Kahungunu, who in turn suggested Te Kani a Takirau of Te Aitanga a Hauiti and Ngāti Porou. He replied, ‘Certainly I am of the lines of your noble ancestors, but I am situated on one side of the Island. Furthermore my mountain Hikurangi is not one that easily moves from its own resting place.’5

Like true rangatira, each affirmed that they were primarily iwi leaders and were not well positioned to take on the burden of kingship, and suggested others for the honour. Karauria of Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūpaea of Ngāi Te Rangi and Pāora Kīngi of Mataatua were also approached before the request was sent back to Te Heuheu.

Footnotes
    • Quoted in Steven Oliver, ‘Te Kani a Takirau – haurongo.’ Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t41/te-kani-a-takirau (last accessed 30 August 2023). Back
    • Quoted in Maharaia Winiata, Centennial celebration, 2nd May, 1858–1958: founding of the Maori King Movement, Turangawaewae Marae, Ngaruawahia. Ngāruawāhia: King Korokī, 1958, no page number. Back
    • Centennial celebration, no page number. Back
    • Centennial celebration, no page number. Back
    • Centennial celebration, no page number. Back

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, 1858–1860

In 1856 Iwikau Te Heuheu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa convened a famous meeting known as Hīnana ki uta, Hīnana ki tai (search the land, search the sea) at Pūkawa, on the western shores of Lake Taupō. All the major iwi were represented. Here Te Heuheu proposed the famed rangatira of Waikato, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, for the kingship.

In 1841 Governor William Hobson had reported to London that Pōtatau was the most powerful chief in New Zealand. Mātene Te Whiwhi of Ngāti Raukawa had canvassed the genealogical experts Te Hūkiki Te Ahukaramū and Te Whīoi of Ngāti Raukawa, who believed that Pōtatau was the most suitable candidate. He had extensive genealogical connections with many iwi and his kingship could be well supported by the fertile lands and resources of the then wealthy Waikato. The wealth of Pōtatau was important, as his people would host many gatherings.

Accepting the kingship

Like the others, Pōtatau stubbornly refused the kingship. Several meetings were held to discuss the proposal, including an 1857 meeting known as Te Puna o te Roimata (the wellspring of tears) at Haurua among Ngāti Maniapoto. Here Ngāti Maniapoto leader Tanirau announced their decision to support Pōtatau as king. Pōtatau replied, ‘E Ta, kua tō te rā’ (O sir, the sun is about to set), meaning that he had not much longer to live. Tanirau replied, ‘E tō ana i te ahiahi, e ara ana i te ata, e tū koe he Kīngi’ (it sets in the evening to rise again in the morning; thou art raised up a king). He was suggesting that on Pōtatau’s passing his son, Tāwhiao, could carry on the kingship, which might then become hereditary. Pōtatau replied, ‘E pai ana’ (it is good).1 With this he accepted the kingship, and Waikato the role of kaitiaki of the Kīngitanga.

Becoming king

In 1858 Pōtatau was declared the king at Ngāruawāhia. Iwikau Te Heuheu spoke: ‘Potatau, this day I create you King of the Maori people. You and Queen Victoria shall be bound together to be one (paiheretia kia kotahi). The religion of Christ shall be the mantle of your protection; the law shall be the whariki mat for your feet, for ever and ever onward (ake, ake tonu atu).’2

At a gathering at Rangiaowhia in 1858, Te Tāpihana of Ngāti Hikairo asked the people what formal title should be given to Pōtatau. From the crowd came the traditional Māori suggestions – ariki tauaroa (chief of chiefs), toihau (supreme chief), kahutatara (paramount chief) – until finally ‘king’ was proposed by the Hawke’s Bay chief Te Moananui. The people agreed.

The following year Pōtatau was confirmed as king at Ngāruawāhia and anointed by Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpīpī Te Waharoa (known as the kingmaker), who held a bible over Pōtatau’s head in the whakawahinga ceremony.

Death

In his short time as king, Pōtatau was based at Ngāruawāhia, where he established his great council, Te Rūnanga o Ngāruawāhia, to guide his kingship. He died on about 25 June 1860 at his home in Ngāruawāhia.

Footnotes
    • Quoted in Pei Te Hurinui Jones, King Potatau: an account of the life of Potatau Te Wherowhero, the first Maori king. Wellington: Polynesian Society, 1959, p. 207. Back
    • Quoted in James Cowan, The New Zealand wars: a history of the Māori campaigns and the pioneering period (1845–64), http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-b1-1-9.html (last accessed 30 August 2023). Back

Tāwhiao, 1860–1894

King Pōtatau was succeeded by his son, Tāwhiao, who was proclaimed king on 5 July 1860 at Ngāruawāhia. Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpīpī Te Waharoa anointed him in the whakawahinga ceremony, using the same bible that he had used for Pōtatau’s investiture.

The invasion of Waikato

The first years of Tāwhiao’s reign were dominated by war. Governor Thomas Gore Browne demanded that Tāwhiao submit 'without reserve' to Queen Victoria.1

Gore Browne’s successor, George Grey, was also not prepared to accept dual sovereigns in New Zealand. On a visit to Ngāruawāhia, Grey famously declared that ‘I shall not fight against [the king] with the sword, but I shall dig round him till he falls of his own accord.’2 Grey spent little time testing this isolating policy. He soon ordered his troops to cross the Mangatāwhiri Stream (which Tāwhiao had established as an aukati) in July 1863.

The invasion of Waikato ensued, with major battles leading to an ultimate defeat for Waikato iwi. Tāwhiao and his fellow ‘Kingites’ were forced to retreat across the Pūniu River into Te Nehenehenui, the lands of their Ngāti Maniapoto relatives.

Land confiscation

Tāwhiao and his followers were declared rebels and some 1.2 million acres (almost 500,000 hectares) of their fertile lands were confiscated. The return of these confiscated lands became a central concern for Tāwhiao and subsequent Waikato leaders. Their catch cry was, ‘I riro whenua atu, me hoki whenua mai’3 (as land was taken then land should be given back).

Tāwhiao and Ngāti Maniapoto leaders established an aukati along the confiscation line at the Pūniu River, forbidding European intrusion. The territory beyond the aukati subsequently became known as the King Country.

Formal peace

From his exile, a more pacifist Tāwhiao declared that killing must cease. However, he also argued against land surveys, land sales, courts, gold mining, telegraphs, schools, and the Pākehā justice system. Suspicious of the Pākehā, Tāwhiao stated in 1869 that Māori and Pākehā should remain separate. However, in 1881, after a number of years of negotiations with the government, Tāwhiao and his followers symbolically laid down their weapons before the resident magistrate at Pirongia (Alexandra) and returned to Waikato.

Trip to England

Tāwhiao did not renounce his efforts to have Waikato’s confiscated lands returned. In 1884 he travelled to England with several companions to seek redress from Queen Victoria. Tāwhiao’s tattooed face caused heads to turn in London, but he and his Māori embassy were declined an audience with the queen. He was informed by the colonial secretary that confiscations were a domestic matter under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand government.

On his return home, Tāwhiao introduced the poukai - an institution to comfort the widowed, bereaved and destitute and a chance to discuss redress and the repatriation of land. The first poukai was held at Whatiwhatihoe in 1885. They continue in the 21st century, with almost 30 marae holding an annual poukai and being visited by the sovereign. Poukai involve flag raising and lowering ceremonies, karakia of the Pai Marire religion, pōwhiri and kawe mate (mourning ceremonies), hākari (feasts), and the discussion of political, social and spiritual topics in the presence of the monarch. They give the king or queen the opportunity to hear about local issues and allow the marae to show their support for the Kīngitanga.

Pōtatau's advice

As Pōtatau was nearing death he gave Tāwhiao and his people some advice. ‘I muri, kia mau ki te whakapono, kia mau ki te aroha, ki te ture. Hei aha te aha, hei aha te aha.’4 (After I am gone, hold fast to faith; hold fast to love; hold fast to law. Nothing else matters now – nothing.)

Political independence

Tāwhiao continued his quest for mana motuhake (Māori political independence), setting up the Kauhanganui, a Kīngitanga parliament, in 1892. This had a council of 12 tribal representatives known as Te Tekau-mā-rua, as well as ministers. Tupu Taingākawa, the second son of Wiremu Tāmihana (and the kingmaker at the time), was the tumuaki (premier). Tāwhiao was offered, and accepted, a government pension. There was much iwi concern at the implication that he had given up his independence, and the pension was paid back, with interest.

Prophetic sayings

Tāwhiao is famous for his many tongi (prophetic sayings). For example, with the issue of Waikato’s confiscated lands unresolved, and faced with poverty, Tāwhiao spoke of rebuilding using the less well-known, more humble trees:

Māku anō e hanga tōku whare
Ko tōna tāhuhu, he hīnau.
Ōna pou he māhoe, he patatē.5
I will build my house
Its ridge pole will be made of hīnau
Its posts will be made of māhoe (whiteywood) and patatē (seven-finger).

Tāwhiao’s sayings have guided the Kīngitanga over many years.

Death

King Tāwhiao died on 26 August 1894 at Pārāwera. He was buried on Taupiri mountain, the sacred burial ground of the Waikato, where King Pōtatau was to be reinterred in 1903. Some 3,000 Māori from all parts of the country attended Tāwhiao’s tangihanga.

Footnotes
    • Wellington Independent, 14 June 1861, p. 5. Back
    • Quoted in John Eldon Gorst, The Maori king: or, The story of our quarrel with the natives of New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1959, p. 208. Back
    • ‘Tukaroto Potatau Matutaera Tawhiao (King Tawhiao).’ NZHistory, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/tukaroto-potatau-matutaera-tawhiao (last accessed 30 August 2023). Back
    • Quoted in Carmen Kirkwood, Tāwhiao: king or prophet. Huntly: MAI Systems, 2000, p. 42. Back
    • Quoted in J. McLeod Henderson. Ratana: the origins and the story of the movement. Wellington: Polynesian Society, 1963, p. 57. Back

Mahuta, 1894–1912

In the days leading up to his death, Tāwhiao, the second Māori king, made known his choice of successor with these words:

Papa te whaitiri, ka puta Uenuku, ka puta Matariki. Ko Mahuta te kingi!

The thunder crashes, Uenuku appears, Matariki appears. Mahuta is the king!1

Tāwhiao’s son, Mahuta, was anointed as the third Māori king in the whakawahinga ceremony by Tupu Taingākawa Te Waharoa, the kingmaker at the time.

Politics

Mahuta remained the head of the Kauhanganui (Kīngitanga parliament), which continued to meet. In the 1890s his movement attempted to unite with the Kotahitanga (Māori parliament movement), without success. At one meeting with the Kotahitanga in 1895 the Kīngitanga was invited to sign the Kotahitanga deed of union. Instead, a rival Kīngitanga deed, later known as Mahuta's deed, was drafted and signed by 5,000 people.

In 1898 the Western Māori MP Hēnare Kaihau, who was under Mahuta’s patronage, introduce to Parliament a Maori Council Constitution Bill, which provided for a form of Māori self-government. However, the bill was discharged before its second reading.

Legislative Council

Mahuta increasingly looked to bring Māori and Pākehā closer together. Perceiving an opportunity to influence the government, in 1903 he accepted Premier Richard Seddon’s offer of a seat on the Legislative Council and a position in the ministry. Seddon hoped to win over the King movement and free up more Māori land for purchase. However, in 1906, in a rare speech in Parliament, Mahuta stated that it ‘was not sufficient merely to open up Maori lands for European settlement. Parliament should enable the Maori to work his lands.’2

During his time in the legislature, Mahuta temporarily passed on the kingship to his younger brother, Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao. When Mahuta’s term ended in 1910 he resumed his kingship.

Aspiring Ngāti Porou politician Apirana Ngata made this assessment of Mahuta in 1900:

The King of Waikato (Mahuta) is a personage who can well bear the honourable title, and in whom the hopes of those within the circumference of the King Movement may well be centred. He has personality, but more he is a thinker. To me he is keen to discern, quick to consider good advice, and diplomatic, perhaps somewhat stunted by the authority of custom prevalent in that Waikato region. I think he has shown initiative in advance of his people, striving to turn to their advantage those things of worth in the European way of life.3

Death

King Mahuta died on 9 November 1912. During his tangihanga, when all the rangatira had assembled, the question of Mahuta’s successor was considered. The leaders chose his eldest son, Te Rata, whose investiture was carried out before Mahuta was buried on Taupiri mountain.

Footnotes

Te Rata, 1912–1933, and Te Puea

There was much hope for the new king, Te Rata, but his kingship was hindered by illness – rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. Te Rata’s major activity was the study of iwi traditions and whakapapa. During his kingship, his cousin Te Puea Hērangi exerted a strong influence on and provided practical leadership within the Kīngitanga.

London town

During a visit to London in 1914, King Te Rata and his companions witnessed all the sights, from the underground to Piccadilly Circus to the World Lawn Tennis Championship (Wimbledon), as well as the arrest of Emily Pankhurst, the leader of the British women’s suffrage movement, outside Buckingham Palace. Te Rata and his travelling companions were at Westminster to witness the third reading of the Home Rule Bill for Ireland – which may have given them hope that the King movement might also one day achieve a degree of autonomy.

Travel to England

One of Te Rata’s closest confidantes, Tupu Taingākawa Te Waharoa, had for some years advocated that the Māori king should travel to England to present a petition to the British Crown. Despite opposition from a number of Māori, including politician Apirana Ngata, in 1914 Te Rata and Taingākawa, accompanied by Mita Karaka (Ngati Tahinga and Ngati Hourua) and Hōri Tiro Pāora, travelled to London, as King Tāwhiao had some 30 years earlier. On arrival Te Rata recorded his occupation with the British immigration authorities as Māori king, while Taingākawa facetiously wrote ‘settler’.

In London Te Rata, although beset with illness, was fêted by the English aristocracy and gentry and former residents of New Zealand. He was eventually granted an audience with King George V and Queen Mary, but Te Rata, whose secretary by then was referring to him as H. H. Te Rata, was under clear instructions not to mention his grievances. Like Tāwhiao before him, Te Rata was advised that these were matters for the New Zealand government to address.

First World War

While in London, Te Rata witnessed the outbreak of the First World War. His secretary wrote, ‘Kei te kino rawa atu inaianei te porangirangi o nga pakeha’1 (the English are in an absolute frenzy). Once home, Te Rata and his followers did little to support the war effort. When Waikato opposed attempts to conscript their young men in 1917, several relatives of Te Rata were imprisoned. Representatives of Waikato explained that in 1881 Tāwhiao had forbidden Waikato from taking up guns ever again, saying, ‘Ko te pakanga i runga i tenei motu, kua rite ki te koka harakeke. Ko te tangata whakaara pakanga a muri ake nei, koia tonu hei utu’2 (warfare in this land has ended just like a withered flax bush. For those who wish to promote warfare after this, they in turn shall suffer.) Many Waikato Māori did not want to fight for the land of the English when their own land had not been restored to them.

Death

Te Rata, who had suffered from rheumatism almost continuously over the previous six years, died at Waahi Pā, Huntly, on 1 October 1933. His tangihanga lasted a week, with Te Puea in charge of the arrangements. Again the succession of the kingship was discussed by the visiting rangatira, and again they chose a successor from the kāhui ariki (royal house) of Pōtatau.

Te Puea

Particularly influential in Waikato opposition to participation in the war effort was Te Rata’s cousin, Te Puea Hērangi. She became the most prominent Kīngitanga leader of her time (although she was never the sovereign). As Taingākawa’s influence waned, Te Puea increasingly became Te Rata’s mouthpiece. She was determined to rebuild the mana of the Kīngitanga with Ngāruawāhia at its centre, and took guidance from Tāwhiao’s tongi (saying):

Ko Arekahānara tōku haona kaha
Ko Kemureti tōku oko horoi
Ko Ngāruawāhia tōku tūrangawaewae.
Alexandra [present-day Pirongia] will ever be a symbol of my strength of character
Cambridge a symbol of my wash bowl of sorrow
And Ngāruawāhia my footstool.3

Don't mention the war

Te Puea's opposition to the First World War brought her much personal criticism. The German ancestry of her grandfather, William Searancke (whose family had lived in England for four generations before coming to New Zealand), was thrown at her, and she was called ‘the German woman’. She astutely responded, ‘Is not the King of England of German descent?’4

Fundraising

An accomplished kapa haka performer, Te Puea formed the kapa haka Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri. The group toured the country giving concerts to raise funds for the establishment of Tūrangawaewae marae, and in 1929 its celebrated meeting house, Māhinaarangi, was opened. In the 21st century Tūrangwaewae remained the centre of the Kīngitanga.

Land schemes and tribal settlement

Te Puea worked tirelessly for the Kīngitanga. Eager to rebuild an economic base for the movement, she also enthusiastically embraced Apirana Ngata's schemes to develop Māori land through government loans. The once isolationist and intransigent ‘Kingites’ were now among the exponents of this government scheme. Te Puea was also a driving force behind the partial settlement of Waikato’s land grievances in 1946, which led to the establishment of the Tainui Māori Trust Board.

Footnotes

Korokī, 1933–1966

Crowning of Korokī

The kingship was passed on to the eldest son of Te Rata, Korokī, who reluctantly accepted, and became , the fifth Māori king, known as Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. He was crowned on 8 October 1933. Te Puea Hērangi continued her influence, having arranged his marriage to Te Atairangikaahu, the daughter of her brother, Wanakore Hērangi.

Official engagements

The young King Korokī endured rather than enjoyed official engagements. His first major appearance was at the celebrations held at Waitangi in 1934 to mark Governor-General Lord Bledisloe’s gift of what is now known as the Waitangi Treaty grounds. Korokī led thousands of visitors onto the grounds.

His first recorded public speech was on 18 March 1938 at the opening of Tūrongo meeting house at Tūrangawaewae marae, Ngāruawāhia. At Tūrangawaewae he entertained Allied officers during the Second World War, and welcomed other important visitors, including Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It is said that he was up much of the night before encouraging the people readying the marae for her visit. Queen Elizabeth returned the hospitality by gifting the Chrysler she arrived in to the Māori royal household.

Korokī's interests

While Korokī attended numerous poukai (annual visits to Kīngitanga marae), tangihanga and other iwi functions, he could also be found working alongside his people in the gardens, or, with his mechanical ability, repairing vehicles. He promoted literacy among adults and education for children.

Korokī's final years

As Korokī got older he was beset by health problems and looked to others, including his wife, the adviser and scholar Pei Te Hurinui Jones and Tūrangawaewae marae carver Piri Poutapu to represent him. Under the guidance of Te Puea, Korokī’s daughter Piki also took an increasingly prominent role as a representative of the Kīngitanga. King Korokī died at Ngāruawāhia on 18 May 1966.


Te Atairangikaahu, 1966–2006, and Tūheitia, 2006–

Tāwhiao's prophecy

King Tāwhiao prophesied, ‘Kei te haere mai te wa, ka puta mai i taku pito ake, he wahine, he urukehu, mana hei whakatutuki i tenei oranga.’1 (The time is coming when from my loins a woman will come of fair complexion. She will pave the way to the fulfilment of this recovery.)

Crowning

The young Princess Piki was crowned Kuini Te Atairangikaahu before Korokī's burial. She became the first woman to lead the Kīngitanga and the first Māori queen. Tāwhiao’s prophecy had come true. She assumed her mother’s name, Te Atairangikaahu, and quickly endeared herself to her people with wise but gentle leadership. She assumed the Māori title Te Arikinui and among Waikato people was affectionately known as ‘The Lady’.

Public life and awards

Te Atairangikaahu welcomed and entertained many dignitaries. In 1970 she was made a dame, and in 1973 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Waikato. She and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first people to be inducted into the Order of New Zealand in 1987, and she was made an honorary doctor of laws by Victoria University of Wellington in 1999.

Under the leadership of Te Atairangikaahu and her stepbrother, Robert Mahuta, the matter of the raupatu (land confiscations) was finally settled. In May 1995 the Crown signed a Deed of Settlement with Waikato-Tainui, the Crown compensating the iwi with $170 million, including the return of a small amount of land.

Death

When Te Atairangikaahu died on 15 August 2006, she was the longest-serving Māori monarch, having reigned for 40 years. The high regard in which she was held was evident from the many thousands who attended her tangihanga, both Māori and Pākehā, as well as many foreign dignitaries.

King Tūheitia

During the funeral for Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, kaumātua Tui Adams (Tainui) asked three times: ‘Ko Tuheitia hei Kingi?’ (should Tūheitia be King?) and three times the people present responded, ‘Ae’ (yes).2 With that Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII was anointed as the seventh Māori monarch. Tūheitia was the eldest son of Te Atairangikaahu and her husband Whatumoana Paki. Anaru Tāmihana used the same bible his ancestor Wiremu Tāmihana had placed on Pōtatau’s head in 1859.

Tūheitia has generally made public speeches once a year during his reign, but he has also taken part in many important ceremonies with international dignitaries, both in New Zealand and abroad. In 2009 he accompanied former Prime Minister Helen Clark when she was welcomed with a pōwhiri to the United Nations in New York as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. In 2019 he had a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican. He has also taken part in many Māori celebrations around the country. He has taken a particular interest in campaigns aimed at reducing incarceration rates amongst Māori and supporting the reintegration into their communities of former prisoners. In 2014 he revived Te Tekau-mā-rua advisory council, continuing the tradition established by Tāwhiao but for the first time including kaumātua and advisors from outside Tainui.

The Kīngitanga in the 2000s

In the early 21st century the Kīngitanga is an enduring institution. Historic traditions such as the poukai (annual visits by the monarch to marae) and the koroneihana (coronation celebrations) continue. The century-old Kauhanganui (Kīngitanga parliament) continue in a rejuvenated form.

In 2018 celebrations were held at Tūrangawaewae to mark 160 years of the Kingitanga. Thousands of people attended, including iwi and political leaders from around the country. More than 1,000 people took part in kapa haka and sports competitions, and more than 100 waka appeared on the Waikato River as part of the celebrations.

Footnotes

External links and sources

More suggestions and sources


How to cite this page: Rahui Papa and Paul Meredith, 'Kīngitanga – the Māori King movement', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/kingitanga-the-maori-king-movement/print (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Rahui Papa and Paul Meredith, published 20 June 2012, reviewed & revised 2 March 2023