Maori in New Zealand anoint a new queen

New Zealand’s Maori chiefs have anointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch.

The choice of Nga Wai hono i te po Paki was welcomed as a symbol of change for the Indigenous community.

She is the youngest child and only daughter of King Tuheitia, who died last week.

After being selected by a council of chiefs, Nga Wai was ushered to the throne by a group of men bearing ceremonial weapons who chanted, screamed and shouted in acclamation.

“The new monarch was raised up in a ceremony known as Te Whakawahinga, in front of thousands of people gathered for the tangihanga [funeral and burial] of Kiingi Tuheitia,” a spokesperson for the Kiingitanga, or royal family, said.

Maori cultural adviser Karaitiana Taiuru told the AFP news agency that it was a “privilege” to witness a young Maori woman become queen.

“The Maori world has been yearning for younger leadership to guide us in the new world of AI, genetic modification, global warming and in a time of many other social changes that question and threaten us and Indigenous Peoples of New Zealand,” he said.

“These challenges require a new and younger generation to lead us.”

The new monarch was chosen ahead of the funeral of King Tuheitia, whose body has been lying in state for six days.

Wearing a headdress of leaves, a cloak and a whalebone necklace, Nga Wai sat beside her father’s coffin as rites, prayers and chants were performed.

He was then taken along the river to Mount Taupiri in a flotilla of four waka, or war canoes. A group of rugby players carried the coffin to the summit for the king’s burial alongside previous Maori monarchs, including his mother.

New Zealand’s Maori make up about 17 percent of the population or about 900,000 people.

Maori citizens are much more likely than other New Zealanders to be unemployed, live in poverty or suffer cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and suicide.

Maori life expectancy is seven years less than other New Zealanders.

The Kiingitanga, or Maori King movement, was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting New Zealand’s tribes under a single sovereign in the face of British colonisation.

The Maori monarch is a mostly ceremonial role with no legal status but has enormous cultural significance as a symbol of Maori identity and kinship.

Queen Nga Wai is the eighth Maori monarch and the second queen.

Her grandmother, Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, held the position for four decades until 2006.

The new queen studied at New Zealand’s Waikato University and holds a Master of Arts in Tikanga (societal lore of) Maori.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the king’s coronation in 2016, she received a traditional Maori “moko” tattoo on her chin.