Forever is now! First Koroneihana for The Māori Queen

 

For a whole year, Turangawaewae Marae, the residence of The Māori King, was in mourning. This week, thousands of people, including rangatahi (the youth) from different iwi (tribes) flocked through the banks of Waikato river and entered the royal residence for one sole reason: to celebrate their new Queen. To hear her public address for the first time. Te Arikinui (Paramount Chief) Kuini (queen) Nga wai hono i te po, became the world's youngest (widely known) monarch (at age 27) when she was chosen to succeed her late father, Kīngi Tūheitia (1955 - 2024) last year, and was crowned on the last day of his tangi (funeral), September 5, 2024. One year later, her first Koroneihana (accession and coronation anniversary) has been celebrated from 2 to 6 September 2025 all across the Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto (King Country) of the north Island. In her first speech - breaking the silence after one-year mourning for her predecessor - Te Kuini announced two new financial initiative that would help the Māori population, while encouraging the people to practice their tikanga (culture), reo (language) and mātauranga (education) proudly every day. Nga wai hono i te po, has been the eighth Māori monarch (second female) in 167 years of Kīngitanga (Māori King movement), which strived to defend the rights of New Zealand's 20% of (Māori) population from the challenges imposed by the British collonial government, amid settlements over the controversial Waikato Treaty (which is currently the sole guarantee for the basic civil & cultural rights of Māori people).

The Koroneihana - an annual celebration which unites supporters of Kīngitanga movement and ordinary Māoris from all walks of life - began with a somber remembrance of the late seventh king, and mourning for all people's relatives who died in the past year. It was just over a week after his own, 18th Koroneihana (21 August 2024), that Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, who reigned from 2006, succumbed to a fatal cardiac arrest after a surgery on August 30 (2024), aged just 69. People from all over the nation paid their last respects, before the new monarch was chosen by his official council, Tekau-mā-rua, made up of rangatira (tribal chiefs) from beyond the Tainui (tribal confederation). Scores of excitement echoed the residence, when the young woman - Tuheitia & queen consort Makau Ariki's youngest child & only daughter - emerged from the crowded courtyard and was escorted to the throne next to her father's coffin. A bible was placed on her head, she was anointed by Archbishop Donald Tamihere and crowned in Te Whatawahinga ceremony, becoming the eighth Māori monarch after Pōtatau Te Wherowhero I, the second youngest & second woman (after her grandmother) to ascend the throne.

The first two days of Koroneihana (September 2-3, 2025) paid tribute to the deceased. Visitors were entering the gates of Royal residence, serenaded by the brass bands of Rātana Church, and bringing their own kawe mate (memories for late relatives). From the third day (September 4) the atmosphere got festive, with the 9,000 attendees focusing on Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, who watched the traditional kapa haka (dance and songs) performances (she has been herself teaching since her university years) in excitement. It was though on the fourth day (September 5), when Te Arikinui (Paramount Chieftainess) broke her year-long, silence amid a heavy, subtropical rain. Adorned in a royal blue dress, don with stiletto-shaped earings, and supported by her elder brother, Korotangi Paki, she started in a somber mood, reflecting on her own past year's experience. Speaking of the expectation of her moving on with life after one year of mourning, the queen expressed how much she missed her father's comfort while escaping the realities of new life - "a physical figure amongst you, bereft emotionally and spiritually". Then (having reminded everyone that she is just the same human being) she changed the mode and expressed the hope that sunshine will bring "a new day of bright life and vitality". And said that the great example of kotahitanga (solidarity) shown this past week, during preparations for Koroneihana - from the kitchen to various organisations of different iwi (tribal) groups and on social media - would make the late King smiling because of the way the people have mobilized during these challenging times.

Te Arikinui continued her speech by redifining the meaning of Māori for the first time in her reign. She went forward to expand Kotahitanga (the core value of her father's reign) into a 'however' case, when it is mistakenly interpreted that one is not an effective Māori, unless there is an enemy or a challenge to overcome. On the contrary she stated that "being Māori is forever", further adding the examples of "speaking our language, taking care of the environment, reading and learning about our history, the choice to be called by out Māori name" and many other things, making them strong in good times and in bad alike, so that they continually nurture their culture "to control our own destiny". Repeating the phrase of Kīngi Tūheitia "be Māori all day, every day", Nga wai hono i te po moved forward to launch two economic initiatives, close to her father's heart. First, an economic summit - Ōhanga Ki Te Ao - , where economic opportunities by the Māoris will be discussed independeltly from New Zealand's government, pursuing on self-determination, a sustainable future and thriving peoples. Second, a capital fund initiative [Tahua Kotahitanga], run by entities of Māori iwi (tribes), giving the people investment opportunities, amid the disadvantages the Māoris are facing due to the current government's actions. Te Kuini concluded her speech by affirming Interdependence as a way of life for her, vowing to work hard to achieve the realization of what her father didn't live to see and urged the attendees to return home with lightness and joy in their hearts, leaving all their burdens for her to work out. At the end, The Māori queen led the congregation in a powerful kapa haka performance before leaving the event.

Nga wai hono i te po Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VIII has been popular among her subjects and a devoted Māori from her birth. Her paternal grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Māori Queen 1966-2006) choose her name (meaning "the waters joining in the night") as she was travelling down the Whanganui River at the night of her granddaughter's birth (13 January 1997). Her first language was Māori and she was educated in New Zealand, having a Bachelor of Arts in Māori language & Master's in Māori Law [Tikanga] from the University of Waikato. In 2016 she received a traditional moko kauae (chin tattoo) along with her mother (Te Atawhai Makau Ariki) and cousin, on her father's 10th Koroneihana. In the early 2020s the future queen was appointed to the Waitangi National Trust Board, as well as to Waikato Council for a four-year-term. She also became a Board member of Waikato Tanui College of Research and Development of Trustees as well as representatie of her father in Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust board. Nga wai hono I te po led several delegations of Kīngitanga on cultural & political events abroad (including a meeting with then Prince Charles in London, back in 2022), on behalf of the Māori king. When her turn came to succeed the role, she attended two of the national hui (meetings) Kīngi Tūheitia had called for in protest to the proposed in NZ' Parliament Treaty Principles Bill, that would significantly undermite the Māori people's rights as reinterpreted in Waitangi Treaty over time. The bill eventually wasn't passed, after a widespread opposition, including by the Te Pāti Māori (Māori party).

In January 2024 at the National hui (meeting) for Māori unity held at Turangawaewae Marae, Kīngi Tūheitia said: "the best protest we can do right now, is be Māori, be who we are, live our values, speak our reo [language] care for our mokopuna [children]..." Just over 19 months later, and one full year after his passing, this call has echoed more than ever at the same place as his daughter's first Coronation day celebrations come to a close on Saturday, September 6 (2025). Because those very language, culture and values have been systematically procecuted by New Zealand's legislations. In the 1960s, only 25% of young pupils spoke Māori as their native language, in comparison to the 95% at the beginning of the 20th century. Thus the Māori way of life was the only way left to their iwi to defend their identity, to preserve their culture, by continuing the koha (nose greetings), by performing kapa haka, by getting moko kauae (tattoos on the chin and all over the body). Te Tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi), has already formed into the core of New Zealand's unwritten constitution. No matter the historic misinterpretation, which led to long period of wars and eventually the limitation of most Māori iwi to a small part of The Northern Island, it is currently perceived as a guarantee of basic rights (if not privileges) which several policies of the current governing coalition (including the attempted but failed "Principles of The Treaty of Waitangi Bill" act) are pushing back again. And that is why the Māori are currently protesting (both in The Parliament - the famous haka by Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke last year, and outside).

And here comes the unifying factor - the Kīngitanga movement. Or at least a fair attempt to unify as many iwi as possible. To inspire them into the Kotahitanga (unity, solidarity). Eight generations of Māori monarchs have attempted to do so since 1858. Eight generations of Te Wherowhero descent, always selected by wānanga (a forum of senior councilors) and anointed at their predecessor's funeral. Having not a constitutional role, but rather that of an inspiring political figurehead, though at the same time larger than politics. Because after all, the Māori movement is about politics, and representation of their own iwis' interest (even though not all iwis have endorsed the Kīngitanga). Currently, with a young woman on the helm of this institution, and fully integrated into it, aspirations of the fellow rangatahi (young people) are high. They perceive Nga wai hono i te po as a 'beacon of leadership' and hope for the future, and yet another one of them, aspiring to hold their cohesion (Kotahitanga) 'āke, āke' (forever), that means for their whole lifetimes. And this "forever" was referred by Te Kuini at least five times in her near-half an hour, first Koroneihana address. But forever is now. And Te Arikinui has shown her determination to solve the problems, not postpone them:"It's now 2025, we need to stop allowing external forces to hinder us. We need to walk a new path. We need a new direction. We need new solutions to the problems we've inherited". And now, as she enters into the active representation of her subjects, the 'smart, tall, brown, young, beautiful, indigenous' queen has got her forever to make it now!

Videos:

Sources:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/571973/masses-arrive-at-turangawaewae-marae-to-celebrate-accession-of-maori-queen

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/05/new-zealand-maori-queen-first-speech

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/572225/maori-queen-launches-two-economic-initiatives-during-her-first-national-address

https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/09/06/john-campbell-the-maori-queen-speaks-and-its-a-new-vital-voice-for-nz/

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/572141/stand-strong-believe-in-yourself-support-for-maori-queen-ahead-of-first-address

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/10/treaty-principles-bill-voted-down-in-new-zealand-parliament-maori

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nga_wai_hono_i_te_po

https://www.dw.com/en/new-zealand-maori-queen-gives-first-public-speech/a-73890869

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%ABheitia

https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/09/03/koroneihana-2025-rangatahi-on-what-the-maori-queen-means-to-them/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_King_movement