Gisborne woman Charlotte Gibson says she grew up listening intently to the words of Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the Māori Queen from 1966 to 2006.
Decades later, while listening to the speech of the new Māori monarch – 28-year-old Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po – Gibson said she is thrilled her grandchildren have another “cool queen” that they too will grow up with.
“My granddaughters are looking at her, and my grandsons are watching her, they are all watching her and I know she is going to do well by all of our kids,” Gibson said.
“I’m not even Tainui but I am so proud of her. I am so proud of what she represents.”
At Koroneihana at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Friday, the Queen made her first public address since the passing of her father, Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, one year ago.
She spoke about the grief of the past year while urging Māori to “walk a new path”.
“This past year, at times, you have seen a physical figure amongst you, bereft emotionally and spiritually – escaping the realities of a new life, fleeing in search of the warm chest of comfort that once allayed a daughter’s worries, my father’s chest,” she said.
The Queen’s family supported her at Koroneihana, including her brother Korotangi Paki, who held an umbrella for his sister and passed her a tissue when she began to weep while speaking about their father.
“In those moments of escape, no matter how much I tried or wished for the tears to stop falling, they flowed like the Waikato River, springing forth from a deep sense of loss.”
It is custom for the new Māori monarch to not make public statements in the year after the death of the previous monarch as this is a period of mourning.
In her address, she said it was now time to look to the future and continue her father’s work.
“Kotahitanga – it’s a term that has become synonymous with my father ... kotahitanga was evident at Waitangi, Rātana and in our long march to Wellington and the tangi of Nana Tariana [Turia] – who created Whānau Ora and Nana Iri [Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi] – the matriarch of Kōhanga Reo."
But being Māori was not “defined by having an enemy or a challenge to overcome”, she said.
“Being Māori 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 Māori name. There are many ways to manifest being Māori, not just in times of protest.”
She said she was tired of talking “about fighting and the ‘forever’ nature of that struggle”.
“When will we be successful ‘forever’? When will we be healthy ‘forever’? And when will we be liberated from the struggles of the world ‘forever’?”
Now was the time to stop “allowing external forces to hinder us”, she said.
“We need to walk a new path. We need a new direction. We need new solutions for the problems we’ve inherited.”
She urged Māori to focus on economic independence and announced the launch of a new indigenous economic summit and an investment fund (funded by iwi capital and co-investors) that would be centred on developing economic opportunities.
“Past battles were generally won by those who not only had resilience but also appropriate resources,” she said.
“We undoubtedly have the resilience, but when it comes to appropriate resources, an economic focus could be the very thing that will see us thrive into the future.”
Waikato-Tainui leader Tukoroirangi “Tuku” Morgan said he was “overjoyed” by the Queen’s performance at Koroneihana.
“She is the new face of our people. She will usher in a new approach to the way in which we do business, she will be a beacon of hope.”
Morgan said the Queen’s new fund was set to create “some serious levels of resource” in time “to help us do not only what we need to do, but major transactions”.
“After all, we [Māori] have a different approach to business. Ours is an intergenerational approach.
“We don’t buy to sell, we buy to keep so we keep those assets that are important to us for those that come after us. That’s exactly what she wants, she wants to grow the legacy for those that come after us.”
Many Koroneihana attendees came out of the Queen’s speech beaming with pride. Sieg Da Rogue said the Queen was “really inspiring as a strong wahine toa”.
“To see our Queen up there ... it was truly inspiring for us. She is ... ready to take up the challenge of anything that is thrown her way. Her people are right behind her.”
Rage Rogue said the Queen was “so inspiring for us, she is a mana wahine”.
“We are all here to support [her] – and to embrace her kōrero and listen to her kōrero.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said she cried through most of the Queen’s speech.
“We all re-fell in love. This is the first time she has spoken in a year and I could see a whole new generation of excitement, of optimism.
“It was the words I know I needed to hear as a wahine Māori.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.