Maori Queen Nga Wai Hono i te po Paki crowned in ‘new dawn’ for New Zealand

Waikato: The youngest child of three and only daughter of Kingi Tuheitia and his wife Makau Ariki Atawhai is now the new leader of the Kingitanga movement.

Kuini (Queen) Nga Wai hono i te po Paki was anointed as her father, Kingi Tuheitia, lay in state beside her, an image similar to his own ascension almost 18 years earlier at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia - the headquarters of the Kingitanga Movement.

The new kuini is a direct descendant of the first Maori King, Potatau Te Wherowhero, who was installed in 1858. She is the eighth monarch to lead the movement, her ascension to the throne just a few weeks shy of her late father’s coronation on August 21, 2006.

Kuini Nga Wai hono i te po Paki is only the second female to lead the movement. Her grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, was the longest-serving Maori monarch, from 1966 to 2006.

Kuini Nga Wai hono i te po is relatively young, 27.

She was educated at Te Whare Kura o Rakaumanga in Huntly and received a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship in 2016.

She is a graduate of the University of Waikato, completing a Bachelor of Arts followed by a Master of Arts Degree with First Class Honours in 2022.

Born on January 13, 1997, the new monarch was only nine when her father took the throne.

SOURCE -Stuff