WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A new Maori Queen was anointed Thursday, taking on the role at a time when New Zealand is facing some of the biggest challenges to race relations in two decades.
A statement released by representatives said Nga Wai Hono i te Po had been chosen by Maori elders to replace her father, King Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died at age 69 last week following surgery.
“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.
The new queen is not crowned and instead a bible that has been used since 1858 was placed upon her head and Archbishop Don Tamihere used sacred oils to bestow prestige, sacredness, power and spiritual essence upon her.
Thousands gathered at Tuurangawaewae, the meeting place of the King movement, to bid him farewell in a traditional funeral.
Following the anointment of his daughter, the King’s coffin was taken to the Waikato River by hearse before being paddled in a flotilla of traditional Maori waka or canoe to Taupiri Mountain, where he was to be buried alongside other royals and high-profile Maori.
The Maori King or Queen is considered the paramount chief of several tribes, or iwi, but is not affiliated with all of them. The monarch’s role has no judicial or legal authority in New Zealand and is largely ceremonial.
The role is not necessarily hereditary but voted on by representatives from iwi across the country. The new queen, or Kuini, is the only daughter and youngest child of the former King and his wife, Te Atawhai Makau Ariki, and is 27 years old.
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Radio New Zealand says that the new monarch, who has two older brothers, was favored to ascend the throne, although it had not been a foregone conclusion.
The new queen holds a Master of Arts in Tikanga (societal lore of) Maori and has served on a number of boards including that of the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust, an organization charged with revitalizing the Maori language, according to 1News.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government welcomed the new queen’s appointment as she carries forward the mantle of leadership left by her father.
