{"id":163327,"date":"2025-09-06T02:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T02:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/new-maori-queen-brings-hope-for-new-zealand-in-first-speech-being-maori-is-forever-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T02:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T02:12:08","slug":"new-maori-queen-brings-hope-for-new-zealand-in-first-speech-being-maori-is-forever-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/new-maori-queen-brings-hope-for-new-zealand-in-first-speech-being-maori-is-forever-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"New M\u0101ori queen brings hope for New Zealand in first speech: \u2018Being M\u0101ori is forever\u2019 – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her first public address, Nga wai hono i te po spoke of unity and said M\u0101ori must \u2018walk a new path\u2019
Who is New Zealand\u2019s M\u0101ori queen?<\/a>
I<\/span>t was the moment thousands had waited a year to see: New Zealand\u2019s new M\u0101ori Queen speaking to her people for the first time since being crowned. As a light rain fell, Nga wai hono i te po, the 28-year-old monarch, urged M\u0101ori to come together and \u201cwalk a new path\u201d.
Nga wai hono i te po, the only daughter and youngest child of the former M\u0101ori King, ascended the throne a year ago after her father died peacefully in his sleep.<\/a> A one-year period of mourning ensued, with custom requiring the queen to withhold speaking publicly.
\u201cThis past year, at times, you have seen a physical figure amongst you, bereft emotionally and spiritually \u2013 escaping the realities of a new life, fleeing in search of the warm chest of comfort that once allayed a daughter\u2019s worries, my father\u2019s chest,\u201d Nga wai hono i te po told a crowd of thousands in her native M\u0101ori<\/a> language on Friday.
\u201cI don\u2019t share this in search of pity, rather, it\u2019s a reminder that I am human, just like everyone else.\u201d
\u201cLet the sunshine of a new day bring light and vitality,\u201d she said.
Over the past week, thousands have descended upon T\u016brangawaeware marae in New Zealand\u2019s central North Island to celebrate the Koroneihana \u2013 an annual event to mark the coronation of the M\u0101ori monarch \u2013 and to hear the 28-year-old queen<\/a> deliver her much-anticipated speech.
Standing in a royal blue dress, with her brother by her side, Nga wai hono i te po thanked those in attendance, including Tonga\u2019s crown prince and princess, members of the Hawaiian royal family and the enormous crowd filled with young M\u0101ori who had come to support her.
The crowd laughed at her jokes, cried with her, and offered approval when she spoke of the unity her father had tried to instil in her people, and what it meant to be M\u0101ori.
Nga wai hono i te po\u2019s appointment comes as tensions between M\u0101ori and the government have intensified over policies that include rolling back official use of the M\u0101ori language and a failed attempt<\/a> to put the principles of the country\u2019s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi<\/a>, to a referendum.
\u201cBeing M\u0101ori is not defined by having an enemy or a challenge to overcome. Being M\u0101ori is speaking our language. It is taking care of the environment. It is reading and learning about our history. It is the choice to be called by our M\u0101ori name. There are many ways to manifest being M\u0101ori, not just in times of protest,\u201d she said.
\u201cBeing M\u0101ori is forever, but we must continually nurture that expression of being M\u0101ori to control our own destiny.\u201d
Nga wai hono i te po, whose titles are Te Arikinui (paramount chief) or Kuini (queen), is the second woman to head the eight-monarch reign of the Kiingitanga movement<\/a>.
The movement is the most enduring of those created to defend M\u0101ori sovereignty during a wave of war and confiscation in the 19th century, and an attempt to unite tribes to stand up against the British Crown. While the role of monarch is largely ceremonial, the leader is also considered to be the paramount chief of several iwi (tribes). The movement has been influential in shaping<\/a> the discourse around the coalition government\u2019s policy direction for M\u0101ori.<\/a>
Nga wai i te po talked about the struggles her people faced and the problems they had inherited.
\u201cThere is decreasing tolerance of the continuing disestablishment of M\u0101ori initiatives\u201d, she said, likely referencing the government\u2019s rollback to M\u0101ori programmes and funding.
\u201cIt\u2019s now 2025, we need to stop allowing external forces to hinder us. We need to walk a new path.\u201d
The queen offered two solutions: an economic summit to develop opportunities for M\u0101ori and a fund with seed investment from M\u0101ori entities.
At the end of her half-hour speech, she asked the crowd to return home with lightness and joy in their hearts.
\u201cDon\u2019t be in a rush, don\u2019t be burdened. Leave those things behind for me to tend to.\u201d
Afterwards she joined her iwi (tribe) in kapa haka (traditional performance), dancing and singing \u2013 wearing snakeskin stilettos.
T\u016brangawaewe marae sits on the banks of the Waikato river, and is the seat of the Kiingitanga movement. Outside the marae grounds, children jostled for a go on the playground, while some grouped together to practice waiata (song).
Over the week, people have travelled from across the country to the marae \u2013 some to mourn those who have died in the past year, others to perform kapa haka (traditional song and dance). On Thursday, dignitaries from across the Pacific came to pay their respects.
But on Friday people had gathered for one reason: the queen. None were more excited than a group of children and teenagers who had travelled from Auckland to be here.
\u201cWe came to tautoko [support] our queen for her first Koroneihana,\u201d said Matariki Rangikotoa, 16. \u201cShe\u2019s amazing \u2026 she\u2019ll last for ever.\u201d
Ten year-old Rina-Lee Matua was brimming with excitement. \u201cI\u2019m surrounded by my people,\u201d she said gesturing to the huge crowds of children laughing and playing around her.
\u201cShe\u2019s a beautiful queen, a smart queen, she\u2019s a good queen.\u201d
Sitting outside the marae, Roger Kireka and Esmae Hungahunga, who both work in M\u0101ori language preschools in the Hawke\u2019s Bay, had travelled to witness the queen\u2019s speech and to unite with tribes from across the country.
\u201cIt\u2019s a special day for us today,\u201d Kireka said. \u201cIts an opportunity for our rangatahi [young people] to know about \u2026 how our ancestors have brought us here today.\u201d
Hungahunga said the queen\u2019s youth speaks to a younger generation.
\u201cIt\u2019s important for them to embrace this moment, because this is what is going to carry them through those political issues, and to do it with dignity and respect, which we\u2019re not getting from outside,\u201d she said.
\u201cBut together, collectively, being M\u0101ori is important.\u201d
About 20% of New Zealand\u2019s population is M\u0101ori. The young queen is part of a younger, rapidly growing M\u0101ori population<\/a>, who have grown up going to M\u0101ori language schools, and are politically engaged and culturally proud.
Annette Sykes, a lawyer and activist who has spent her career fighting for the rights of M\u0101ori, said Nga wai hono i te po is the right leader for the moment.
\u201cShe\u2019s very humble, very much her own person, and shining in the love of the M\u0101ori world \u2013 it emanates from her.\u201d
\u201cShe stands as a beacon of leadership \u2026 for the new generations that are going to guide the pathway forward for this country,\u201d Sykes said.<\/p>\n

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In her first public address, Nga wai hono i te po spoke of unity and said M\u0101ori must \u2018walk a new path\u2019Who is New Zealand\u2019s M\u0101ori queen?It was the moment thousands had waited a year to see: New Zealand\u2019s new M\u0101ori Queen speaking to her people for the first time since being crowned. As a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}