Pride and excitement filled Tūrangawaewae Marae as the Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po, 28, presented her first public speech as part of the Koroneihana celebrations.
Koroneihana is an annual event to mark the anniversary of coronation of the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement).
Arahia Gray, 62, who’s been coming to the event for nearly 30 years, said it was a “special” moment and she was excited for the young Queen.
“She’s got the mana to do this.
“I do believe she is the chosen one.
“I think this is the time for that age group to step up, fill the shoes of their ancestors. I’ve got young sons in their 20s and 30s, and they are in awe of her ... it inspires them.”
She said Nga wai hono i te po would be a “good role model for rangatahi [youth]”.
Among the rangatahi in the crowd in Ngāruawāhia was Arahia Jeiden, 16, who said she felt “heaps of mana” for Te Arikinui for being Queen at a young age.
“The fact that she did all this for us, for our people ... I can’t imagine for her having to do that because her father passed away.
“I give all my love to her.
“[She] inspires me so much. No matter what age, this is who we are and where we are from.”
Elderly members Charles Potini and Lillian Barrett said they had been at last week’s Koroneihana celebrations every day since Monday.
Potini said the Queen was “good for the young ones” and he supported her “all the way”.
Barrett said it was “all about tomorrow’s world” and the Queen inspired “our young to get up and speak”.
“It shows that it can be done.”
Fellow Koroneihana attendee Rhema Whea said it was “beautiful” to see the whole motu (nation) come together to share their love and kaupapa with the new Queen.
“She’s a mana wahine, she’s beautiful, and she exerts a new and fresh type of energy,” Whea said.
“[You] can feel her father with her and her grandmother with her.”
Nga wai hono i te po was anointed last year after the death of her father, Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII.
It is tradition for the new Māori monarch not to make public statements until a year after the death of the previous monarch, as it is a period of mourning.
Te Arikinui’s speech on Friday, however, marked the end of the mourning period and it was a day of celebration.
Gray said “she will finally have a voice” now.
In her speech, Nga wai hono i te po 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.
“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.”
Nga wai hono i te po also talked about looking to the future and continuing her father’s work.
Image 1 of 12: Lots of people gathered to hear the Queen's first official speech. Photo / Tom Eley
“Kotahitanga [unity] – 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”, the Queen 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.”
Now was the time to stop “allowing external forces to hinder us”.
“We need to walk a new path. We need a new direction. We need new solutions for the problems we’ve inherited.”
– Additional reporting by Julia Gabel