Monday, August 21, 2006

Long live the King!

King Tuheitia

Mate ai he tetekura, haramai ai he tetekura
When one fern frond (leader) dies, another rises to take its place

Eldest son, Tuheitia Paki, succeeds Dame Te Ata-i-rangi Kaahu as head of the Kingitanga movement, 7th Maori monarch, and paramount chief of Tainui, Waikato & Maniapoto.

Tenei te mihi atu ki a koe, e te Arikinui!
E rere aku rahi mai i a Hikurangi Maunga
ki a Taupiri, ki a Turangawaewae, ki nga tini uri o Tainui, ki a Waikato awa!

"Waikato taniwha rau, he piko he taniwha, he piko he taniwha"



My warmest and most humble salutations to you, illustrious Chief!
Songs of praise and honour cascade ceaselessly from the tribes of the Eastern seaboard
to your sacred mountain, Taupiri, to your esteemed marae, Turangawaewae, to the many descendants of Tainui - children of the mighty Waikato river

"Waikato of a thousand taniwha (chiefs), at every bend in the river, a taniwha"

PHOTO: Peter Drury/Waikato Times

6 comments:

Phil said...

Apiti hono, tatai hono
Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate
Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora

Ka huri ki te Ao-marama
Tihei Mauriora!

sally said...

Hi Phil,

Upon the death of Queen Dame Te Ata and the appointment of her son King Tuheitia it obviously is a time for Kingitanga alighned Maori to do bit of a stocktake

Tainui leader Tuko Morgan said it should be a time for Maori to unite their economic and political clout for the betterment of Maoridom. Does that mean that tribes outside Kingitanga, would be invited to join the movement? And if so, how would that work?

Or does it simply mean that the Kingitanga movement(with a seemingly dominant Tainui)are prepared to be a new political force?

Am I right in assuming that the Kingitanga movemnt is alighned to the Labour Party? Do see you any change there? Does the Maori Party represent a voice for the Kingitanga movement?

Sorry for all the questions - I am just a Pakeha chick finding all this business quite fascinating.

Phil said...

I'm probably not the right one to answer, I'm Ngati Porou. During the wars we fought with the Brits... Ooops ;-)
And I'm no expert on Tainui. Also it's very "rude" of me to comment on other iwi delicate matters.
Briefly imho

* Re Tuku Morgan's "unite" comments. They always say that on momentous occasions like this.
* Any tribes may affiliate w/Kingitanga, which is also a broader 'movement' than just the monarchy. It's an "ideal" - a vision of unification.
* Kingitanga aligned to Labour? Only in the broad sense that Maori in general vote Labour. Kingitanga was set up in opposition the British/ Crown/ Colonial/ whatever-you-call-it Govt.
MP Nanaia Mahuta (Labour, Tainui) is daughter of Sir Robert Mahuta, adopted brother of Dame Te Ata. Nanaia is the new King's 'sister'. One can only speculate about any 'relationship' between Labour & Kingitanga (being very diplomatic here)
* The Maori Party are separate from Kingitanga. Tariana Turia's homepatch, Wanganui, falls within traditional Kingitanga land & Ratana Church (who have a pact with Labour) turf, yet they voted for TMP anyway. In that sense, neither Labour, nor Kingitanga, have a lock on Maori voters, despite the long historical ties between Maori & the commie rat party.

Phil said...

Re: "Nanaia is the new King's 'sister'"

Technically adopted first cousin - but Sir Bob & Dame Te Ata were extremely close. Nanaia & King Tuheita's shared whanau and upbringing mean they have an intimate sibling-like relationship.

Phil said...

That should be "King Tuheitia".

Getting late, should go to bed...

sally said...

Thanks for your reply Phil.

On the basis of Ngaiti Porou kissing British butt, I guess they won't be sighning up to the Kingitanga movement anytime soon :)

Yep, I was aware of the 'warm'ties the Mahuta whanau and by extension Tainui have with Labour. I just wonder if that will be heightened with all the emotion surrounding the late Dame Te Ata and if Helen Klark's appearance at Turangawaewae was as much a political schmooze as anything else.

I only saw TV 3 coverage of the events surrounding the tangi/coronation etc, but curiously I never saw a Maori Party MP being asked for their thoughts on Kingitanga and the Royal succession.......