Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has been named the new Māori monarch and successor to her father Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.
Kuini Nga wai hono i te po is the eighth Māori monarch and only the second woman in history to hold the position. She is also the second-youngest Maori monarch to be appointed.
The new monarch was raised up in a ceremony known as Te Whakawahinga, in front of thousands of people gathered for the tangihanga of Kiingi Tuheitia.
Te Whakawahinga was followed by a funeral service for Kiingi Tuheitia after which he was carried by waka to the sacred Tainui burial ground of Taupiri Maunga.
Tekau-Maa-Rua Chairman Che Wilson says Te Whakawahinga is an important ceremony dating back for eight generations to Pootatau Te Wherowhero.
“We follow the tikanga of our ancestors who created the Kiingitanga to unify and uplift our people and we have chosen Nga wai hono i te po as our new Monarch.”
Kuini Nga wai hono i te po is the youngest child and only daughter of the late Kiingi Tuheitia.
