DUBMASTER PhD

Kiaora folks and friends, nau mai haere mai, welcome. I hope this post finds you and your whanau in the very best of health. My daughters are moving thru the throes from girls to women, it has been an emotional time.... I am trying to be the best father I can as they find their individuality. I have found solace in my personal library, hence this post on the Kingitanga.
Some Maori history for the record to get me back into the swing of things.
Congratulations Opera on the 9.50 alpha 'Kestrel' and the server upgrade... nice.
And the 1 million + punters, respect and the proverbial big fat UP to all the hard work you do to make this the best dam browser/software etc on the planet !..thankyou.
I am hoping that Adele, Dudley, Penguins+, Go Tori, Nikio and Khadgar have come thru winners. All the very best .
Henry.


King Potatau

Potatau Te Wherowhero
I whakawaahia 2 May 1858
I mate 25 June 1860

Potatau Te Wherowhero, after much deliberation, was crowned King in 1858. His father, Te Rauangaanga, a Chief of Ngati Mahuta hapu, of Waikato. His mother, Te Parengaope, of Ngati Koura. Potatau married Whakaawi, of Ngati Mahuta, and had Tukaroto, Te Paea and Makareta Te Otaota.

However, his people were invaded by a Northen tribe under Hongi Hika, he and his people fled south to a Taranaki Chief, Otapeehi, who gave his people shelter. Whakaawi, who was pregnant at the time invasion, gave birth to a boy. Otapeehi was given the honour of naming the young chief, he named the baby Tukaroto. Tukaroto, as he was present in his mother's womb during the siege of their home at Matakitaki Pa, in present day Pirongia.

Potatau was a great warrior and was later to be become the protector of the Auckland tribes of the Auckland isthmus and had a home in Auckland, at the Winter Garden House below the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Te Ara note...
After 1848, when the land question began to press upon the Maori, Te Wherowhero gradually turned against the Government and in his old age reluctantly accepted the position of Maori “King”. In 1857, at Pukawa, on the south-eastern shores of Taupo, he was “erected” as “King”. He was installed in this office, amid great ceremonies, at Ngaruawahia in April 1858. As events proceeded and as his supporters grew increasingly hostile to the incursions of Europeans, Te Wherowhero inevitably lost the Governor's confidence. He died on 25 June 1860, and was succeeded by his son Matutaera Tawhiao.

Potatau Te Wherowhero stood over 6ft tall and was one of the most famous warriors of his day. He was an eloquent orator and, as high priest of Tainui, was well versed in the traditions of his own race. Gorst records that the name “Te Wherowhero” means “redman” and that the great Waikato chief got this title from being the first among his people to obtain and wear a scarlet blanket. “Potatau”, meaning “he that counts by night”, was given to him at the death of his wife, for whom his love was so great that he sat sleepless for many nights while she lay dying – “counting”, as the Maori put it, “her last hours”.



King Tawhiao

P.TW Tawhiao Matutaera Tukaroto
I whakawaahia 1860

King Tawhiao was known as the Peace King.

He was raised by his maternal grandparents. During his adolescent years, his father encouraged him to be a man of peace. He was a Christian and a student of the Bible, as well as being well versed in the ancient rites of the Tainui priesthood. He was baptised and named the biblical, Matutaera.

Tawhiao, of the Tainui hapu (sub-tribe) Ngati Mahuta, was born at the end of the musket wars between Tainui and Nga Puhi. He was well versed in the ancient rites of the Tainui tribe, and he had the status of a prophet.
As word of the Kingitanga spread, rumours grew among the Auckland settlers of a Kingitanga invasion. This was reason enough for the NZ Governor to move on Waikato and the Kingitanga, a growing influence among Maori. The Governor backed by a force of 18,000 troops, including some Maori forces known as kupapa.

On 12 July 1863 British troops crossed the Mangatawhiri stream. The Kingitanga had declared this to be an aukati - a line that should not be crossed - and considered any breach to be an act of war. The invasion of the Waikato had begun.
Invasion, military defeat and the confiscation of about 1.2 million acres (just under half a million hectares) of Waikato land in 1864 reduced Tawhiao and his people to refugees in Ngati Maniapoto country (which became known as the King Country). Despite this invasion Tawhiao maintained peace and the burial of war.

Tawhiao's reign was amidst the thick of land confiscations. His reign can also be known for maintaining Maori land that was being lost at a staggering rate. Tawhiao also established a Maori Government and is recorded to have Councils in different regions.

In April 1857, at Rangiriri, Potatau agreed to become king. He was crowned and anointed at Ngaruawahia in June 1858. at a very old age, he reigned for two years before passing on.
At his installation, many chiefs of the North Island laid their lands and service at Potatau's feet. Many mountains, the pou (boundaries) of the Rohe Potae (Kingitanga territory), were named as the guardians of the territory under Potatau's dominion. Potatau's subjects hoped to keep the lands and their communities together by removing the temptation of ready money through selling. These lands were to become the 'Crown lands' of the Maori kingdom.
In his speech of acceptance Potatau stressed the spirit of unity symbolised by the kingship, likening his position to the 'eye of the needle through which the white, black and red threads must pass'. He called on his people to 'hold fast to love, to the law, and to faith in God'.
Maori also saw the Kingitanga as a spiritual force 'carried' from marae to marae. Its symbols, such as the king's flags, the pataka (carved storehouses) and runanga houses, the mountains and boundaries, were imbued with tapu and the mana of the kingdom.

King Mahuta

P.TW.T. Mahuta
I Whakawaahia 1894

Mahuta Tawhiao was the born at Whatiwhatihoe, the oldest son of King Tawhiao and Hera.

Mahuta grew up in Maniapoto in exile, but was still trained in Tainui tikanga and whakapapa.
Mahuta married Te Marae, a woman of strong, independent character who became a King movement leader in her own right. Mahuta and Te Marae had five surviving sons: Te Rata (eventually the fourth King), Taipu, Tumate, Tonga and Te Rauangaanga.

When Tawhiao died in August 1894, Tupu Taingakawa Te Waharoa, known as the kingmaker, anointed Mahuta as the third King while his father's body lay in state at Taupiri. Mahuta is deemed to have become King on 14 September 1894.
On 15 September he, accompanied by other members of the royal family, made a formal entrance into the house of his parliament, Te Kauhanganui, and was seated on his father's throne. His younger brother, Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, announced that Mahuta was to be known as 'King Tawhiao III', a title later used on some occasions. He was also known as Kiingi Tawhiao Te Aaha-o-te-rangi. Mahuta spoke, promising to hold on to Tawhiao's sayings and teachings. Out on the marae three volleys were fired in honour of the new King.
Allegiance to Mahuta, based on that given to Tawhiao, was regarded partly as a covenant with him to hold the lands of those tribes acknowledging the authority of the Maori King. The movement had attracted its greatest support in the 1860s.
But although the kingdom was shrinking in size and influence, in many ways it was assuming a more formal organisational shape. When Mahuta succeeded to the throne, many of the plans of Te Kauhanganui were being formalised for the first time and mana motuhake (local autonomy) was being realised to some extent. Soon after Mahuta's succession, Taingakawa, as leader of the King's government, announced the setting up of the kingdom's own courts for land, civil and criminal cases. Judges, registrars, police and clerks were appointed; dog taxes and fines for non-payment were organised. A minister of lands was appointed, to whom the kingdom's subjects could apply if they wished to lease out their lands. Land court block hearings were 'gazetted' in Te Paki o Matariki , the King movement's newspaper. Spokesmen were appointed to mediate tribal disputes. There was also a plan to set up King movement schools. Mahuta continued in politics for many years.
He died at Waahi on 9 November 1912. The funeral lasted a month to permit homage to be paid to it by all the King movement tribes, a duty shared by thousands.

IMGCENTER=http://files.myopera.com/AOTEAROAnz/blog/mahuta_d.jpg] King Te Rata

P.TW.T.M Te Rata
I whakawaahia 1912

Te Rata was born at his father's home, Hukanui, near Waahi pa, Huntly. He was the eldest of five sons of King Mahuta. Te Rata's mother was Te Marae, a daughter of Amukete (Amuketi) Te Kerei, a chief killed at the battle at Rangiriri in November 1863. Te Rata is said to have been well educated, but was a chronic invalid as a child, and in adulthood suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. Partly because of his physical disabilities his contemporaries tended to regard him as weak, shy and easily led, and attributed his role in many important events to the influence of other King movement leaders. Te Rata usually lived quietly at Waahi, although he sometimes attended race meetings in Auckland. He married Te Uranga, the daughter of Iriwhata Wharemaki and Hira Wati of Ngati Koroki; their two sons were Koroki and Taipu.
Te Rata supported Maui Pomare, the candidate preferred by his father. Although he was later opposed by Te Puea Herangi and others, Te Rata continued to support Pomare as MP, both out of respect for his father's wishes and because Pomare promised to set up a commission of inquiry into the Waikato confiscations.

Mahuta died on 9 November 1912 at Waahi. There was no doubt that Te Rata was the most suitable candidate to succeed his father, and it was thought that his knowledge of Pakeha affairs would help his people.
In 1913 Te Rata took up Tupu Taingakawa's plans to present the British Crown with yet another petition asking for the restoration of confiscated lands. His mother, Te Marae, sold family land to finance the expedition, and King movement members agreed to support the trip by contributing a shilling each. A hui was held at Waahi on 1 April 1914 at which several speakers, including Apirana Ngata, attempted to convince Te Rata and Taingakawa to cancel their expedition. But they departed on 11 April, with Mita Karaka and Hori Tiro Paora as secretaries and interpreters, arriving in London in late May.
Te Rata had counted on the assistance of Sir John Gorst, government agent in Waikato in the 1860s and now resident in England; he at first refused to see the delegation, and gave them no real support. They were eventually received by King George V and Queen Mary, but the British government reiterated its position that Maori must look to the New Zealand government for the redress of grievances. The expedition, during which Te Rata fell ill, was a failure, but was the first meeting og a Maori King and a reigning British monarch. He was welcomed back at a hui organised by Te Puea at Te Paina marae, Mercer, and given a reception and ball by the mayor and citizens of the town.

In 1928 Te Puea was instrumental in arranging a visit by the governor general, Sir Charles Fergusson, to Ngaruawahia. However, the King movement leadership were still resentful of the government's conscription tactics against members of Te Rata's family and people, and at its failure to restore the confiscated lands (the royal commission eventually obtained by Pomare offered compensation in the same year). Te Rata refused to meet Fergusson when he visited Turangawaewae on 30 April.

In the 1920s, as his illness progressed and formerly trusted advisers such as Tupu Taingakawa turned to Ratana, Te Rata abandoned his parliament, known as Te Kauhanganui, as an instrument of his policy making and leaned more on Te Puea, who became his mouthpiece to an increasing extent. Apirana Ngata's schemes to develop Maori land through government loan money, initiated in November 1929, were enthusiastically accepted by Te Puea, but many Waikato people resisted involvement because of lingering suspicion of the government. Ngata and Te Raumoa Balneavis discussed land development with Te Rata at the opening of Mahinarangi in 1929, and subsequently the King came to accept their ideas. In 1931 and 1932 Te Rata and his brothers gave Te Puea their support on land development. Te Rata's sanction of the schemes ensured their success and he successfully persuaded many formerly suspicious landowners to allow their blocks to be developed. With his brothers he developed 600 acres on his own account. Ngata was later to say that Te Rata's death removed a great influence for progress; had he lived he would have been the greatest champion of land settlement.
Te Rata had been ill more or less continuously from 1927. In the last three years of his life he suffered from acute rheumatism. He died at Waahi on 1 October 1933. Te Uranga died in December 1935. Their younger son, Taipu, had died in 1924; the elder son, Koroki, aged only 24 at Te Rata's death, succeeded him. Te Rata's tangihanga lasted a week. Te Puea was in charge of the arrangements; the thousands of mourners were accommodated in marquees, and hundreds of sheep and cattle were slaughtered to feed them. Ratana arrived on 8 October, and at last paid his respects to Te Rata face to face.

King Koroki

P.TW.M.TR. Koroki
I whakawaahia 1933

Koroki Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero was the elder of two sons of Te Rata, the fourth Maori King, of Ngati Mahuta. His mother was Te Uranga of Ngati Koroki and he was named for the eponymous ancestor of her people. He was born at Waahi. In his youth, Koroki, shy and reserved, was eclipsed by his younger brother, Taipu
As a youth Koroki showed aptitude as a motor mechanic, and had he not been destined for the kingship would have chosen this line of work as a career. He was a good musician, playing in a band, and a keen footballer. Probably in the 1920s he developed a relationship with Te Paea Raihe; they had one daughter. About 1930 Te Puea Herangi arranged a marriage for him with Te Atairangikaahu, daughter of Te Puea's brother Wanakore Herangi. Their daughter, Piki, later to take her mother's name, was born in July 1931. They adopted a son, Robert Te Kotahi Mahuta, in 1939. Koroki and his family lived at Waahi pa, near Huntly.

Koroki's father, Te Rata, died on 1 October 1933. Koroki begged Te Puea not to make him take his father's place: he did not feel fit for the task, and the people were so poor they could not afford to support a king. He expressed similar doubts to Pei Te Hurinui Jones. But at the tangihanga for Te Rata it was agreed by all the visiting chiefs that the Kingitanga should continue and that Koroki should be the successor. Apirana Ngata, Pei Te Hurinui and others encouraged Koroki to accept the kingship as a symbol of the mana of the Maori people. Pei Te Hurinui assured the young king of his personal support. This was the commencement of Pei Te Hurinui's career as one of the chief confidants and supporters of Koroki. Another was to be Piri (Bill) Poutapu, the well-known carver, who later acted as Koroki's secretary.
In his first few years as King, Koroki, sometimes referred to as the 'boy' by his elder relatives, was closely supervised by his uncles Tumate and Tonga Mahuta, and by the senior elder of the family, Haunui Tawhiao. Tumate and Tonga had their own plans for the kingdom, which they felt should retain its centre at Waahi pa.
From the beginning of his reign Koroki's life was a round of official engagements. At Turangawaewae he entertained visiting VIPs, Polynesian royalty and nobility, governors general, prime ministers and ministers of the Crown, and Allied officers in the Second World War. He attended numerous poukai (meetings on Kingitanga marae, where the King movement would provide food for the widowed, the bereaved and poverty-stricken). He also attended the tangihanga of many Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto elders, and was a guest at many events in other tribal areas. He was at the Waitangi Treaty House celebration in 1934. The cost of these functions and visits was very high.
Koroki Te Rata worked among his people in the garden to help sustain his people during these hard times, and was said to be found in his oil stained overalls. From his home in Waahi, now Huntly, he stayed more frequently at Turangawaewae Marae, established during the reign of his father, King Te Rata.
From the late 1950s his health began to deteriorate, and although he continued to keep himself informed, and his opinion continued to be sought, he gradually dropped out of public life. He was represented by Pei Te Hurinui, his wife, Te Atairangikaahu, and Piri Poutapu. And under the guidance of Te Puea Herangi, King Te Rata's daughter, Piki, took an increasingly prominent role as a representative of the Kingitanga.

King Koroki Te Rata died at Ngaruawahia on 18 May 1966.

Piki was crowned as Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu a few hours before Koroki's burial.


Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu

The first Maori Queen was born 23 July 1931 as Piki Mahuta. She was raised at Waahi, Huntly and attended Rakaumanga Native School. Later she attended Waikato Diocesan School and stayed at Te Rahui Hostel.

As her father, King Koroki, became ill, she was taken by Te Puea Herangi across the country to represent the Kingitanga at functions and ceremonies throughout the country.

Piki later fell in love, as all young girls do, with Whatumoana Paki. They were married in 1952. They have seven children.

On her father's death, Waikato made the statement that Koroki had no heirs. Although there was some division over the appointment, Piki was crowned as Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu a few hours before King Koroki's burial, on 23 May 1966.

Turangawaewae marae in Ngaruawahia is the formal seat of the Maori King movement, built under the direction of Te Puea Herangi in the 1920s and 1930s.

On 30 December 1953 on her first visit to New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh were welcomed at Turangawaewae. The decision to visit was not taken until that morning and represented a significant moment of reconciliation between the Crown and the King movement. Here the Queen and the Duke walk on to Turangawaewae flanked by King Koroki and the princess who became Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the present Maori Queen.

On 23 May 2006 the Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, celebrated the 40th jubilee of her coronation. She was the sixth Maori monarch and the longest serving.


A Tribute to Te Arikinui Te atairangikaahu

A week of mourning has begun for the Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu who passed away on Tuesday August 15 2006.

She died surrounded by her children, grandchildren and kaumatua at her home on the Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia.

Tributes are flowing in.

Prime Minister Helen Clark says Dame Te Ata was a great leader for Maoridom and used her power as the head of Kingitanga very wisely.

"This is a tremendously sad day for Maoridom and for all of New Zealand because Dame Te Ata has been one of our great leaders. With 40 years as the Maori Queen, and the head of a very, very big movement in Maoridom, she is acknowledged throughout the country as a great rangatira - a great leader."

She says the Maori Queen carried out very distinguished work across a number of organisations, promoting much that was positive for the culture.

"She has been very distinguished in the work she's done across Maori organisations promoting culture, promoting language, promoting kohanga - promoting so much that's been positive for Maoridom and for New Zealand, and she'll be very greatly missed.

"She had royalty from around the world beat a path to her door at Turangawaewae. Heads of state, heads of government, foreign delegations."

Maori Affairs Minister, Parekura Horomia , says Dame Te Ata was a true leader and her passing is a time of great sadness for Maori and Pakeha. He says she leaves behind a positive legacy, including her work in Kohanga Reo and the Maori Women's Welfare League.

Horomia says thousands will turn out for the tangi for Dame Te Ata, which is likely to be one of the largest of modern times.

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples described the queen "like a beautiful butterfly."

"She has been an ariki in every sense to the word. I don't know of any other royalty that's been like her. She's carried out the role fantastic - she's been supportive of almost every initiative, she has been a lady at all times and we're going to miss her.

"She really cared about things and she cared about her position. She realised that she was a kaiteake - a looker after of that position, and was a symbol for her people."

Sir Tipene O'Regan of Ngai Tahu says "she had grace and charisma...if charisma can be quiet."

"She has been understated, but that is part of her strength. She has filled the role of ariki within her tribe and within Maoridom with competence and grace."

"It's a very sad day," National Party leader Don Brash says.

"Dame Te Ata was for 40 years the Maori Queen and she brought to that role a quiet dignity which commanded respect from everybody, both Maori and Pakeha."

New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters , says she was always a charming person to meet, with a good sense of humour. "She had...qualities of class which showed that she understood her job.

"Here is a person that over 40 years built tremendous respect for her office. She was above any tribal squabbles and above political arguments and disputes."

British High Commissioner George Fergusson says she was warm, friendly and affectionate, but carried immense mana without being pompous or self important. "She was a very warm personality but you sensed nonetheless that she was someone special."

Professor James Ritchie , a close friend and advisor, says her passing will be a moment of enormous unification for Maoridom.

Ritchie says Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu grew in respect over the course of her 40-year reign - within Maoridom and internationally. He says she was very aware of her serenity, her calmness and her sense of assurance, but not in a way that was ever an expression of power or arrogance.

Ritchie says one of Dame Te Ata's great achievement was to reunify Tainui so they could protect the Kingitanga.

Chief executive of the Maori Language Commission Haami Piripi says the Maori Queen guided her people through difficult times.

Piripi says Dame Te Ata took her people through the time of language loss, the time of fighting for the the return of confiscated land and the turmoil of the claim negotiations. He says she had a great influence on the resurgence of Te Reo Maori.

Former Treaty Negotiations Minister, Sir Douglas Graham , described signing ceremonies with Dame Te Ata as a marvellous occasion.

"When we had the signing ceremonies she would sit there, then she'd sign and take part. Then she'd sit down again, then the singing and dancing would start and she'd watch, then she'd get up and join them and it was just marvellous."

Joe Malcolm of Te Arawa Trust Board says she was a lovely person, who was like the way she looked, "you look at her she's got a nice placid face."

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu's tangihanga at the Turangawaewae Marae is likely to last seven days beginning with mourning by her people. Her successor will be chosen by the Maori people on the day of her funeral.

Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

King Tuheitia



There has been a groundswell of support for the Kingitanga and its new leader, King Tuheitia, with iwi from around New Zealand giving their backing to the monarch.

Tuheitia Paki was born to Piki Meene Mahuta and Whatumoana Paki on the 21st of April 1955. He attended Rakaumanga School in Huntly. At age 11, his grandfather, King Koroki, passed away and his mother, after much discussion, assumed the throne and title Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu.

As a teenager Tuheitia attended the then elite St Stephens School, a boarding school for Maori boys situated on Auckland's Bombay hills. Later, joining the army and based in Papakura.

He later married Te Atawhai and they now have three children, Whatumoana, Korotangi and Naumai.

Prior to his mother's passing, Tuheitia was the Rahui Pokeka Campus Manager in a Huntly outpost of the Maori tertiary institution Te Wananga o Aotearoa.

Since his mother's passing, the King has not made any public addresses, as the past year has been a time of mourning. However, he has had made numerous public appearances on various marae and many an event taking with him the memory of his beloved mother, but also joy in the thought that the bastion that is the Kingitanga will live on.

Ruka Broughton from the South Taranaki iwi, Nga Rauru, says the new leader has the family background befitting a king and is the right person for the job.

Te Poroa Malcolm, from Bay of Plenty iwi, Te Arawa, says King Tuheitia's appointment marks the dawn of a new era.
Malcolm says the new king's mother has left an ideal template for filling her shoes.

....PEACE........