The Maori of New Zealand anointed a new monarch on Thursday, officially installing 27-year-old Nga Wai Hono i te Po as their second-ever queen.
The ceremony capped off a week of mourning for the previous Maori king, Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died at age 69 after undergoing heart surgery just days after celebrating the 18th anniversary of his own coronation.
Nga Wai Hono i te Po, the new queen, happens to be his youngest child and only daughter. But the role of monarch is not hereditary: The successor is determined by tribal representatives from across the nation.
Leaders announced on Thursday that they had chosen Nga Wai Hono i te Po, making her the eighth Maori monarch and just the second queen. The first was her grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who reigned from 1966 until her death in 2006 (at which point her son became king).
“The new monarch was raised up in a ceremony known as Te Whakawahinga, in front of thousands of people gathered for the tangihanga of Kiingi Tuheitia,” the tribal leaders said in a statement.
A historic bible was placed on Nga Wai Hono i te Po’s head, and a prominent archbishop used sacred oils to “bestow prestige, sacredness, power and spiritual essence” upon her. Then, the visibly emotional queen took a seat on a wooden throne next to her father’s coffin.
The coffin was later paddled — in a traditional canoe flotilla — along the river to Taupiri Mountain, the final resting place of the king and other high-profile Maori, according to CNN.
The ceremonies took place in Tūrangawaewae Marae on the North Island, which is the seat of the Maori King movement.
The political institution developed in the 1850s, when Maori tribes decided to unify under a single sovereign in the face of an influx of British settlers and demand for their land, as well as broader political marginalization.
Today the role of the Maori monarch is largely symbolic. As a former British colony and current member of the British Commonwealth, New Zealand’s official monarch is King Charles.
But the new queen is ascending at a particularly important time: New Zealand’s right-leaning coalition government has faced widespread criticism for dismantling initiatives that benefit indigenous people since taking power last year.
Among other policy changes, it has curbed the use of Maori language in government organizations, closed the Maori Health Authority and rolled back anti-smoking laws (disproportionately hurting the Maori population, which sees higher rates of both smoking and lung cancer).
The late king Tuheitia had urged unity in recent months, including at a January tribal gathering that drew some 10,000 Maori together to discuss how to respond to the government’s plans. His daughter, now the queen, was there by his side.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon paid his respects to the king last week, but did not attend the funeral as he is on an official trip to South Korea, the BBC reports. He wished the new queen well in a tweet on Wednesday.
“As Kiingi Tuheitia makes his final journey from Turangawaewae, we reflect on his legacy and look to the future with hope and anticipation,” he wrote. “We welcome the Upoko Ariki, Ngawai hono i te po, who carries forward the mantle of leadership left by her father.”
The queen has a chin tattoo, a "loud mouth" and a passion for performing arts
Nga Wai Hono i te Po had been favored as her father’s successor, but her selection “was not a foregone conclusion,” according to Radio New Zealand.
She became a more recognizable figure in recent years, accompanying the king on official engagements and serving as his official representative on a 2022 visit to London, where she met with then-Prince Charles.
The trip came over a century after a Maori king traveled to England to meet with Queen Victoria, only to be turned away. Nga Wai Hono i te Po was upfront about her mixed feelings given the painful past between the two countries.
“Although I feel excited about meeting the Prince of Wales, a part of me is still reluctant,” she told the media, in the Maori language. “I have a loud mouth, so I need to be careful.”
Nga Wai Hono i te Po earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Waikato and a master’s degree in Tikanga Maori, generally defined as Maori practices and behaviors, according to 1News.
She has since served as a member on numerous boards, including of the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, which is charged with revitalizing the Maori language.
She has long been involved in Kapa Haka, a Maori performing art involving dancing and chanting while standing in rows. She got a job teaching it while in university, and was also part of a Kapa Haka group with which both of her parents had performed, according to Radio New Zealand.
As a student, she told the University of Waikato that Kapa Haka was a huge part of her daily life.
“I walk around my house and I see a taiaha [traditional weapon]. I get into my car and my poi [performance prop] is on the seat,” she said. “I go home to my parents’ house and my little nephew is there and he’s trying to do the Haka. So it is just everywhere. I’ve been brought up in it, I am it.”
Nga Wai Hono i te Po received her chin tattoo — called a moko kauae — at age 19 in 2016, which she said at the time was to acknowledge and support her father’s decade on the throne.
“In the ten years my father has experienced so many things,” she said. “So this is perhaps my gift to him, my moko kauae.”
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