Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, ‘the face of renewal’

Analysis: The new Māori queen offers the promises of “a new dawn”, iwi leaders say.
That is critical at a time when Māori are deciding how to use their newfound kotahitanga, or unity. It may be to fight the Government’s policies; it may be a more conciliatory path.
It’s come as traditional leaders and activists alike seek to unite Māori against Government moves on the Treaty principles, repealing section 7AA of the Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, and overturning the Court of Appeal’s marine and coastal Takutai Moana ruling.
Nga wai hono i te po Paki, 27, the only daughter and youngest child of the former Māori king Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, was named the new monarch on the final morning of her father’s six-day tangihanga.
Tūheitia and Te Atawhai had three children. The two sons Whatumoana and Korotangi have had their shares of controversy. And so the ascension of their youngest child, daughter Nga wai hono i te po, was not an entire surprise. She is the youngest monarch since the coronation of Korokī, in 1933.
She was a teenager when, in 2016, she received her traditional moko kauae along with her mother and her aunty, former foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta, to celebrate Tuheitia’s 10th year on the throne.
The queen taught kapa haka while attending the University of Waikato and has a master’s degree in Maori cultural studies from there. She sits on the University of Waikato Council, the Waitangi National Trust, and often accompanied her father on official engagements.
She was at his side in January, when he summoned thousands of Māori to discuss the government’s plans. “The best protest we can do right now is be Maori, be who we are, live our values,” Tūheitia said. “Just be Māori, Māori all day, every day, we are here, we are strong.”
Earlier, in 2022, she had met King Charles in London, on her father’s behalf. She told Aukaha/Re:news then: “My heart was heavy when I arrived because I saw how vast and abundant the land is here. So why did they have to come to Aotearoa? To steal our land, to murder our ancestors and grandchildren, to confiscate our resources, and for what reason?”
She said her ancestor, Māori king Taawhiao, came to Britain to protest the confiscation of Māori land – and that remains a driving force. “It was also about holding the Crown accountable to their promises under Te Tīriti o Waitangi,” she said. “As I am following the footsteps of my ancestors, I feel angry, but it’s only right that I feel angry. I believe I should feel angry.”
Through the efforts of her grandmother Dame Te Ata and her father Kiingi Tūheitia, the Kiingitanga is now much more influential and widely respected than before, both within Māoridom and across Aotearoa generally.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi lawyer Annette Sykes, who has spent her career fighting for the rights of Māori, said the new Queen represents the future she has been aiming for.
“She’s inspiring, the revitalisation and reclamation of our language has been a 40 year journey for most of us and she epitomises that, it is her first language, she speaks it with ease,” Sykes told The Guardian. “Political, economic and social wellbeing for our people is at the heart of what she wants and in many ways she is like her grandmother, who was adored by the nation.”
Sykes said it was exciting that a 12-person council, made up mostly of men, had chosen a woman to lead – that would not have been a foregone conclusion.
“She’s the new dawn, and the deliberations that took part over a few days over a wise council of advisers that made the decision for the motu, for the Māori world, must be congratulated.
“We’ve all watched her grow up, she’s very humble, I’ve watched her mature into this woman who has this thirst for authentic knowledge and brings this into the modern world. She’s someone who wears Gucci, and she wears moko kauae. She is leading us into uncharted and turbulent waters, and she will do it with aplomb.”
“This is more than a generational shift,” NZ First MP Shane Jones said. “She will be the face of renewal.
“Given the extent of Māori youth, I suspect she will personify their aspirations.”
Where next for the Kiingitanga? Former minister Peter Dunne writes in Newsroom that as with all monarchies, the ongoing challenge will be for the institution to remain relevant to the circumstances of its time. “There can be no more obvious current example than the struggles King Charles is having, trying to modernise the British monarchy to bring it somewhere nearer to the realities of life in the 21st century.”
So Nga wai hono i te po’s plea to King Charles begs the question, what would be the guiding purpose of the Kiingitanga, under new management? It’s worth noting that the Kiingitanga is a relatively new institution, created in 1858 in response to colonial confiscations. It exists solely in reference to, and to an extent, opposition to the British Crown.
The Koroneihana words of Tūheitia were oft-quoted at Tūrangawaewae this week: “Our kotahitanga shouldn’t be focused on fighting against the Government. Instead, we need to focus on getting in the waka and working together. Mana motuhake has room for everyone!”
He proposed a more conciliatory path forward in engaging with the Crown. That will require the efforts of both parties, Māori and the Crown. Speaking in te reo on behalf of the Government, minister Shane Jones said yesterday that if anyone was able to unite a divided country, it was Tūheitia and his legacy.
But today, the Kiingitanga is under new management. Nga wai hono i te po will paddle her own waka – and just as the return to Tūrangawaewae after the interment of Kiingi Tūheitia was upstream, so too her course may well be against today’s political current.