An accomplished haka dancer has been anointed the next Māori leader over her elder brothers in an emotional coronation attended by thousands.
Nga Wai Hono i te po Paki, 27, the only daughter of the late Māori King Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, holds a masters degree in Māori customs, was raised in Māori immersion schools and has been hailed by community chiefs as the “new dawn” of a younger generation of leaders emerging at a critical time for indigenous rights.
She is only the second queen in the royal tradition of the Kiingitanga movement, which dates back to the 1850s.
Since its founding in the years after British colonisation, the Kiingitanga movement has championed Māori unity and sovereignty and other protections in the Treaty of Waitangi – modern New Zealand’s founding document which was signed in 1840 between the Crown and Māori tribes.
Translation issues and attempts to reinterpret the agreement have since caused tensions.
A pledge by the New Zealand government to review the treaty and implement potential changes to how the document affects modern laws has triggered protests in recent months.
