2024-09-05 00:53:09
After the death of Maori King Tuheitia Potatau te Wherowhero VII, a council of Maori leaders chose his daughter Nga Wai hono i te po Paki as the new queen. A new Maori leader was announced on Wednesday in a huge promotion ceremony on the country’s North Island attended by thousands. The twenty-seven-year-old was happy as he sat on a large wooden throne.
Nga Wai was escorted to the throne by a phalanx of tattooed men with ceremonial spears who chanted, shouted and beat. A group of female singers dressed in black with kava leaves tied into flowers on their heads also sang.
Queen Nga Wai was the eighth Maori king
The role of the Queen, considered a symbol of national unity, is primarily festive in nature. However, it is very important for the identity of the indigenous population of New Zealand.
Queen Nga Wai is the eighth Maori monarch and the second woman to hold the position. His grandmother, Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, sat on the throne for four years until 2006.
Thousands upon thousands paid their last respects to the king
King Tuheitia’s funeral is also scheduled for Thursday. He died on Friday at the age of 69, just days after heart surgery. For the past six days, his body has been placed in a beautiful funeral home. Thousands of indigenous people and people of European origin known as “Pakeha” have paid their last respects there in recent days.
There are around 900,000 Maori living in New Zealand, which corresponds to 17 percent of the population. The arrival of Europeans in New Zealand in the 17th century brought colonization, discrimination and fierce wars. The treaty signed in 1840 between the British and hundreds of Maori chiefs is considered the founding document of New Zealand.
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