Background

New Zealand’s Maori anoint new queen, bury late king

Article arrow_drop_down


New Zealand’s Maori chiefs anointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch Thursday, a surprise choice hailed as a symbol of change for the country’s Indigenous community.

Nga Wai hono i te po Paki was cheered by thousands as she ascended a high-backed wooden throne during an elaborate ceremony on the country’s North Island.

She is the youngest daughter of King Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died on Friday after heart surgery.

After being elected by a council of chiefs, Nga Wai was ushered to the throne by a phalanx of bare-chested and tattooed men bearing ceremonial weapons — who chanted, screamed and shouted in acclamation.

The queen, wearing a wreath of leaves, a cloak and a whalebone necklace, sat beside her father’s coffin as emotive rites, prayers and chants were performed.

After six days laid in state, the late king was carried down the Waikato River as part of a flotilla of four war canoes, each powered by more than a dozen rowers.

His funerary procession passed throngs of onlookers camped on the riverbanks, before stopping at the foot of sacred Mount Taupiri.

From there, three rugby teams acted as pallbearers, shepherding his coffin up steep slopes to the summit and the final resting place of Maori royals.

– Passing the torch –

The Maori monarch is a mostly ceremonial role with no legal status. But it has enormous cultural, and sometimes political, significance as a potent symbol of identity and kinship.

As the king’s only daughter and his youngest child, Queen Nga Wai was considered an outside choice to become his successor.

One of her two elder brothers had taken on many ceremonial duties during their father’s periods of ill health and had been widely tipped to take over.

“It is certainly a break from traditional Maori leadership appointments which tend to succeed to the eldest child, usually a male,” Maori cultural advisor Karaitiana Taiuru told AFP.

Taiuru said it was a “privilege” to witness a young Maori woman become queen, particularly given the ageing leadership and mounting challenges faced by the community.

“The Maori world has been yearning for younger leadership to guide us in the new world of AI, genetic modification, global warming and in a time of many other social changes that question and threaten us and Indigenous Peoples of New Zealand,” he said.

“These challenges require a new and younger generation to lead us.”

New Zealand’s Maori make up roughly 17 percent of the population, or about 900,000 people.

Maori citizens are much more likely than other New Zealanders to be unemployed, live in poverty or suffer cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes and have higher suicide rates.

Maori life expectancy is seven years less than other New Zealanders.

The Kiingitanga, or Maori King movement, was founded in 1858 to unite New Zealand’s tribes and provide a single counterpart to the colonial ruler, Britain’s Queen Victoria.

“People think Maori people are one nation — we’re not. We’re many tribes, many iwi. We have different ways of speaking out,” said Joanne Teina, who had travelled from Auckland for the ceremony.

“The Kiingitanga was created to create unity — among people who were fighting each other for thousands of years, before Pakeha (Europeans) came along.”

– Second queen –

Queen Nga Wai is the eighth Maori monarch and the second queen.

Her grandmother, Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, held the position for four decades until 2006.

The new queen studied the Maori language and customary law at New Zealand’s Waikato University. She also taught “kapa haka” performing arts to children.

To mark the anniversary of the king’s coronation in 2016, she received a traditional Maori “moko” tattoo on her chin.

King Tuheitia, a 69-year-old truck-driver-turned-royal, died on Friday, just days after heart surgery and celebrations marking the 18th anniversary of his coronation.

Tens of thousands of Indigenous citizens and “Pakeha” — those of European ancestry — visited to pay respects, mourn and celebrate New Zealand’s rich Maori heritage.

Among them was Auckland-based Darrio Penetito-Hemara, who told AFP the king had united “many people across Aotearoa (New Zealand) who don’t often see eye-to-eye”.

The king leaves a legacy forged “through respect, through aroha (love)”, Penetito-Hemara said.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon welcomed Queen Nga Wai in a statement, saying she “carries forward the mantle of leadership left by her father”.

“The path ahead is illuminated by the great legacy of Kiingi Tuheitia,” he said.

ryj-arb/lb



Source: www.yahoo.com

About the author

trending_flat
Rand Paul Breaks With Trump on Two Key Administration Promises

Rand Paul on Face the Nation.President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear that he’s looking for yes-men for his next term in office, but Republican Sen. Rand Paul didn’t seem to get the memo.The Kentucky lawmaker spoke on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, and firmly stated his stance against both tariffs and the potential of the military being involved in mass deportations.Paul went as far as to call Trump’s proposal to involve the military “illegal” and a “terrible image” while talking to the show’s host, Margaret Brennan.“I am 100 percent supportive of going after the 15,000 murders, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists. All these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say, all points bulletin, all in,” Paul said.However, he quickly clarified that he and Trump disagreed […]

trending_flat
Moscow offers debt forgiveness to new recruits and AP sees wreckage of a new Russian missile

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Ukraine.The measure, whose final version appeared on a government website Saturday, underscores Russia’s needs for military personnel in the nearly 3-year-old war, even as it fired last week a new intermediate-range ballistic missile. According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the new legislation allows those signing up for a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000). The law applies to debts for which a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings had commenced before Dec. 1, 2024. It also applies to the spouses of new recruits.Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inboxSee for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment […]

trending_flat
The Hayes Valley puppeteer, and his dragon treehouse

It’s not every day that one sees a dragon rising out of San Francisco’s fog. So when I saw a life-sized dragon puppet suspended from a treehouse in Hayes Valley, I knew I had to meet its maker. I slipped a note through the gate of the nearby Victorian and hoped the rain wouldn’t smudge my handwriting. Edward Winslow, a dad, dancer, and internationally-touring puppeteer of 20 years, responded. Winslow, now 64, had the Bay Area version of a storybook childhood: His mom, Marilyn, owned a toy store in Los Altos called Mud Pie and the Jester’s Eye, where she sold handmade Renaissance Faire toys.Winslow, at 11, would play with their stock of finger puppets, but it wasn’t until he moved to New York in the late 1980s that he picked up his first life-sized puppet.  The rain did not deter Edward Winslow […]

trending_flat
One Of The Unhealthiest Beef Stock Brands Is Already In Your Pantry

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.Stocks and broths are a cornerstone of any kitchen. Store-bought versions enable you to make a dizzying array of soups, sauces, and other dishes without the struggle of making your own stock or broth from scratch. But, the readymade varieties aren't created equal, with a few brands packing in unhealthy levels of some ingredients while containing little to none of the beneficial nutrients that a good stock should have.One of these health offenders comes from Nature's Promise. It's a brand known for otherwise healthy and organic food at good prices, which makes the appearance of its stock here all the more disappointing. Worse, the brand's beef-flavored culinary stock that landed it here gets double strikes for having both too much salt and not enough additional nutrients when compared to other brands of […]

Related

trending_flat
Rand Paul Breaks With Trump on Two Key Administration Promises

Rand Paul on Face the Nation.President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear that he’s looking for yes-men for his next term in office, but Republican Sen. Rand Paul didn’t seem to get the memo.The Kentucky lawmaker spoke on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, and firmly stated his stance against both tariffs and the potential of the military being involved in mass deportations.Paul went as far as to call Trump’s proposal to involve the military “illegal” and a “terrible image” while talking to the show’s host, Margaret Brennan.“I am 100 percent supportive of going after the 15,000 murders, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists. All these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say, all points bulletin, all in,” Paul said.However, he quickly clarified that he and Trump disagreed […]

trending_flat
Moscow offers debt forgiveness to new recruits and AP sees wreckage of a new Russian missile

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Ukraine.The measure, whose final version appeared on a government website Saturday, underscores Russia’s needs for military personnel in the nearly 3-year-old war, even as it fired last week a new intermediate-range ballistic missile. According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the new legislation allows those signing up for a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000). The law applies to debts for which a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings had commenced before Dec. 1, 2024. It also applies to the spouses of new recruits.Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inboxSee for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment […]

trending_flat
One Of The Unhealthiest Beef Stock Brands Is Already In Your Pantry

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.Stocks and broths are a cornerstone of any kitchen. Store-bought versions enable you to make a dizzying array of soups, sauces, and other dishes without the struggle of making your own stock or broth from scratch. But, the readymade varieties aren't created equal, with a few brands packing in unhealthy levels of some ingredients while containing little to none of the beneficial nutrients that a good stock should have.One of these health offenders comes from Nature's Promise. It's a brand known for otherwise healthy and organic food at good prices, which makes the appearance of its stock here all the more disappointing. Worse, the brand's beef-flavored culinary stock that landed it here gets double strikes for having both too much salt and not enough additional nutrients when compared to other brands of […]

trending_flat
Philippine VP says she would have Marcos assassinated if she were killed

By Neil Jerome MoralesMANILA (Reuters) -Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed.In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Duterte told an early morning press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be killed.Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inboxSee for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories."I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM (Marcos), (first lady) Liza Araneta, and (Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke," Duterte said […]

trending_flat
Man loses 300 lbs by walking and cutting this 1 food from his diet

Welcome to Start TODAY. Sign up for our Start TODAY newsletter to receive daily inspiration sent to your inbox — and join us on Instagram!About 25 years ago, Rick Salewske weighed 538 pounds. “When I was gaining weight, my world just got smaller and smaller. I couldn’t fit in chairs. I couldn’t go to restaurants. My knees hurt. The steering wheel in my car hit my stomach. I couldn’t put on my shoes. I quit going to college because I couldn’t fit in the desk,” he tells TODAY.com.In 2000, three things happened that motivated him to change:He dreamed that he died, and saw his brothers and sisters lowering him into the ground.He skipped his 20th high school reunion because he hadn’t seen his classmates over the years, and he was embarrassed about his weight.He got hired for a new job, over the phone, […]

trending_flat
Over 900 mobile home owners in Sweetwater, Florida handed move-out notices amid plans to transform park

Over 900 mobile home owners in Sweetwater, Florida handed move-out notices amid plans to transform park Residents of Li'l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater, Florida, were recently notified that they'll need to find somewhere else to live and quickly. The community of more than 900 mobile homes, together housing roughly 2,000 to 3,000 people per the mayor's estimate, will close in May 2025 to make way for new affordable and workforce housing. Mobile home owners usually own the home but rent the land it stands on. The land owner in this case, CREI Holdings, says it will provide a financial incentive of $14,000 to residents who leave by January 31, 2025. Those who leave by March 31 or April 30, will receive $7,000 and $3,000, respectively, though many tenants say it's not enough time or money, according to a […]

About Karl The Fog

Welcome to Karl The Fog, your digital gateway to the enigmatic world of San Francisco’s legendary mist. We are the storytellers, the observers, and the chroniclers of the ever-elusive, charismatic character known as Karl.

KARL THE FOG, and KARL THE FOG COFFEE logos, images, fonts, names, and other trademarks are trademarks of KARL THE FOG, LLC and may not be used without permission.

Login to enjoy full advantages

Please login or subscribe to continue.

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation