Te Atairangikaahu

Maori queen

• Born: July 23, 1931
• Place of Birth: Waahi Pa, New Zealand
• Died: August 15, 2006
• Place of Death: Ngaruawahia, New Zealand

Maori queen

Background

Te Atairangikaahu was born Piki Mahuta on July 23, 1931, in Waahi Pa, a Maori community near the town of Huntly in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. She was the only child born to her mother, Te Atairangikaahu Herangi, although her father, Koroki Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero, had a daughter from a previous relationship. In 1933, following the death of his father, Koroki Mahuta became the fifth Maori king since the beginning of the Maori Kingitanga, or king movement, in 1858. Te Atairangikaahu was raised in a reed hut with several adopted and half siblings.

After an early childhood spent exclusively in the small Waahi settlement, Te Atairangikaahu attended Rakaumanga Primary School and the Waikato Diocesan School for Girls. Despite initial difficulty transitioning to life in New Zealand’s European-dominated culture, she became a popular high school student who participated in sports and held a part-time job at a department store. She received a majority of her diplomatic training and extensive knowledge of Maori culture from her great-aunt Te Puea Herangi, who had been instrumental in the establishment of Turangawaewae Marae, the official residence and reception center of Maori royalty.

Te Atairangikaahu refused Te Puea’s attempts to arrange a marriage for her. Instead, in 1952, she married her childhood sweetheart, a farmer named Whatumoana Paki.

Reign

Following the death of her father in May 1966, Te Atairangikaahu, then thirty-four years old, ascended to the Maori throne on the same day as his burial. It was then that she shed her married name, Piki Paki, and was given the name Te Atairangikaahu, chosen to honor her mother. The name means "hawk of the morning sky." She was the sixth Maori monarch and the first woman to fill the role.

Te Atairangikaahu’s ascendance to the throne took place during a crucial period in Maori history, one that witnessed a renaissance in Maori language and traditions as well as the establishment of a new urban Maori community. Also during this time, Maori groups began organizing to demand restitution for land that had been confiscated by the New Zealand government following the New Zealand Wars of the nineteenth century. Much of Te Atairangikaahu’s work as queen involved helping Tainui, a confederation of several Maori iwi (tribes), bring suit against the government for compensation. She and her adopted brother Robert Mahuta led a lengthy court battle that ultimately resulted in a 1995 settlement awarding Tainui a total of NZ$170 million (US$110 million) in both money and land.

Another highlight of Te Atairangikaahu’s reign was her numerous interactions with international leaders of both church and state, meetings that raised the profile of Maori royalty both in her native New Zealand and across the globe. Japanese emperor Akihito, United States president Bill Clinton, and South African president Nelson Mandela were among the numerous international leaders for whom she acted as diplomatic host.

Honors

Te Atairangikaahu was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, in recognition of her "outstanding services to the Maori people." She was the first Maori woman to receive the honor. Later, in 1987, she was appointed to the Order of New Zealand, the nation’s highest honor.

In addition, Te Atairangikaahu was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato in 1973 and an honorary doctor of laws degree from Victoria University of Wellington in 1999. In 1991, to commemorate Te Atairangikaahu’s twenty-fifth anniversary as queen, the Waikato Regional Council established the Dame Te Atairangikaahu Scholarships in order to assist Maori students at the University of Waikato.

Only weeks after celebrating the fortieth anniversary of her coronation, Te Atairangikaahu died of kidney failure on August 15, 2006, at her official residence, Turangawaewae Marae, in the town of Ngaruawahia. At the time of her death, she was seventy-five years old and the longest-serving Maori monarch. Her son, Kiingi Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, served as monarch until his death in 2024, at which time a council of chiefs chose Kiingi Tuheitia's youngest daughter, Ngā Wai hono i te pō, as the new queen or kuini.

Impact

Te Atairangikaahu made great advances for Maori women, taking on a leadership role in a culture where women were often barred from speaking in ceremonial contexts. Her succinct, no-nonsense political style directly combated the common stereotype that women should be subservient to men in matters of finance and diplomacy. Te Atairangikaahu was beloved in her native New Zealand, and her death sparked a week of nationwide memorial services.

Bibliography

Ahmadi, Ali Abbas, and Katy Watson. "New Māori Queen Crowned as Her Father Is Buried." BBC, 4 Sept. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y8z15wyz6o. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

"Dame Te Atairangikaahu." Economist. Economist Newspaper, 31 Aug. 2006. Web. 20 June 2014.

Lilley, Ray. "Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, Queen of New Zealand’s Maori." Washington Post. Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2006. Web. 20 June 2014.

Te Atairangikaahu. He Rourou Iti: Selected Speeches of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Ed. Miria Simpson. Wellington: Brasell, 1992. Print.

"Traditional Mourning Period Begins for Maori Queen." Irish Examiner. Irish Examiner, 16 Aug. 2006. Web. 20 June 2014.

Turangawaewae Board of Trustees. Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, DBE, HonD, 23 May 1986. Ngaruawahia: Turangawaewae Board of Trustees, 1986. Print.