Last night the Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, passed away in Ngaruawahia. She was the longest serving of any of the Maori monarchs so far - 40 years. (See: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200608151843/86c6cc) She will be greatly missed by many people in this country and around the world. She has done much for the people of Tainui (Waikato) and for the Maori world as a whole.
Of course it is big news for the people here where I work - Te Wananga o Aotearoa. Many of our staff members are attending the marae in Ngaruawahia tomorrow. I hope to be able to go to the tangi on Monday. I am going to find it quite fascinating.
In the past I had assumed that the Maori people had had a monarch for hundreds of years, like many other countries around the world, but believe it or not, this is not the case. The Maori King Movement (Kingitanga) only started in the 1850s. This movement arose among the Maori people to establish a symbolic role similar in status to that of the monarch of the colonizing people, the British. The rationalization was that in having a monarch of their own who could claim status similar to that of the British monarch at the time, Queen Victoria, Māori would be better equipped to deal with the colonizers in their negotiations with them. So when I first heard this I was quite amazed that it has only been around for about 150 years.
Now with the death of Dame Te Ata is it time for an end to the King Movement? Has it served its purpose now that we are in the 21st century? I guess we will find out very soon, in fact we'll find out this Monday when the new monarch is crowned. (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10396429) If one is chosen who will it be? Apparently it can be anyone, but traditionally it remains in the bloodline. Whoever it is let's hope it is someone as marvellous as Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
By the way, Wikipedia has updated their entries on this already! See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Atairangi_Kaahu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_King_Movement
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