Māori King's Coronation Celebrations

To view more images from the ceremony, click here

Tihei mauri ora! Papatuanuku e takoto nei – tēnā koe, Ngā whare – Māhinarangi me Tūrongo e tū nei – tēnā kōrua.  Ki ngā Rangatira o Hawaii – whakapiri mai, nau mai. Tuheitia, te Kiingi Maori, me Atawhai – ka mihi ahau ki a kōrua.
Arikinui – Tumu, E koro mā, e Kui mā – o te paepae tapu, E ngā iwi o te motu - kua tau mai ki Turangawaewae.
“Turangawaewae mo te Ao katoa”.  Tēnei ahau, te uri o Ngāti Tuwharetoa me Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Mangai o te Kuini o Aotearoa, E mihi whakaiti nei, Tēnā koutou katoa. Ka huri ki te reo pakeha and ipad.

Tis life! Mother Earth lying there – greetings. The Houses – Māhinarangi and Tūrongo standing there – greetings. To our Hawaiian Dignitaries – join us , welcome, King Tuheitia and Atawhai – I greet you both, Chief – Tumu, The Elder men and women on the paepae, The tribes of Aotearoa – gathered here at Turangawaewae, “Turangawaewae – for all the World.”  I, descendant of Ngāti Tuwharetoa and Ngāti Kahungunu, representative of the Queen of Aotearoa, greet you in humility.  Greetings to you all.

It is a great pleasure for my wife Janine and me to have been welcomed onto this marae, Tūrangawaewae.  It is certainly a place to stand, and to join together in celebrating the 6th anniversary of your coronation Te Arikinui Tuheitia, as the 7th Māori monarch.

We gather in the town of Ngāruawāhia, the meaning of which - ‘the pits broken open’ - gives us an inkling of the characteristic hospitality of the tangata whenua, referring to when they broke into the kumara pits to supply food for a large number of unexpected visitors at the pa.

Thankfully, the many visitors you have had already, and those that are still to come, are expected in this case. In that regard I am certain that the famous hospitality of Tūrangawaewae will be long remembered by all who have celebrated your milestone with you.

I acknowledge that this marae, has great significance as the formal seat of the Kingitanga movement.  It has been the site of celebration and commemoration for Māori and all New Zealanders.

Tūrangawaewae stands on the banks of the Waikato River – a river that has great significance to Waikato-Tainui, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Raukawa, and Te Arawa iwi as a tupuna and taonga that represents the mana and mauri of this tribe.   Na reira: “Waikato taniwha rau, he piko he taniwha, he piko he taniwha - Waikato of a hundred taniwha, on every bend a taniwha”  attributes the power and prestige of the Waikato tribes to that of the river.

The connection with the vice-regal office includes an historic event that took place seventeen (17) years ago.  On 3 November 1995, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, gave Royal assent to the Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act 1995.  That ceremony, at Government House in Wellington, was attended by your mother, the late Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.  

That historic event followed the signing of the Deed of Settlement at this Marae six months earlier, on 22 May 1995, by the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jim Bolger and Dame Te Ata.

When the Deed of Settlement was signed, Waikato-Tainui gifted to the Crown a beautiful pounamu mere, Te Raupatu.  That mere sits proudly on display in Government House Wellington.  It stands as a reminder of the process that led to the Deed of Settlement and the Kiingitanga Accord between the Crown and Waikato-Tainui signed on 22 August 2008, and of course the signing of the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Act in May 2010 by my predecessor, Sir Anand Satyanand.  I know that you attended that ceremony, which was symbolic of your role as representative of your tangata whenua, and the special relationship Waikato-Tainui has to the Waikato River.

Six years ago Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the 6th and longest serving Māori monarch, took her final journey, up the Waikato River, to her final resting place on Taupiri maunga - Taupiri mountain.  That journey it seems to me demonstrated the kinship the Kingitanga has to this body of water.

Our reason for being here is to join together with you, in celebration of the Kingitanga movement, and the 6th anniversary of your coronation, as te kingi Māori.

However, it must be a bittersweet time as you remember your mother’s passing on 15 August 2006 on the one hand, and yet we celebrate your succession and coronation on the same day as her tangihanga, on 21 August 2006.
Arikinui Tuheitia – you represent a movement that originated on the shores of Lake Taupo in 1856.  At a representative gathering of tribes at Pukawa, your tipuna, Te Wherowhero was selected as the first Māori King.

He was formally installed in 1858 as Potatau Te Wherowhero, and thus began a now 154-year old lineage-tradition, which has over the course of its history and sometimes through difficult times, served as a symbol of unity and poise:
He totara wahi rua he kai na te ahi, - ‘unity is strength’.

As Governor-General I come to this special gathering to offer congratulations and thanks, on behalf of all New Zealanders, for your service to your rangatiratanga over the past six years and to extend our wishes for your good health, continued service and wisdom in the future. 

Rau rangatira ma, kia ora huihui tātou katoa.