On Thursday, the Maori chiefs of New Zealand appointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch. This unexpected decision was welcomed as a symbol of progress for the country’s occasionally troubled Indigenous community.
Thousands of spectators applauded as Nga Wai hono i te po Paki ascended a high-backed wooden throne during an elaborate ceremony on the North Island of the country.
She is the younger daughter of King Tuheitia, who passed away on Friday following heart surgery.
Nga Wai was ushered to the throne by a phalanx of bare-chested and tattooed men carrying ceremonial weapons in acclamation after being selected by a council of chiefs. The men chanted, screamed, and shouted in approval.
She reclined beside her father’s coffin as emotive rites, prayers, and chants were performed, wearing a cloak, a whalebone necklace, and a wreath of leaves.
On Thursday, he will be transported to his final resting place on the foothills of sacred Mount Taupiri by a flotilla of war canoes, after having been in state for six days.
Nga Wai, the king’s only daughter and smallest child, may have been perceived as an unconventional candidate for the position of his successor.
During their father’s periods of ill health, one of her two elder siblings had assumed a number of ceremonial responsibilities and was expected to succeed him.
Karaitiana Taiuru, Maori Cultural Advisor, stated to AFP, “It is certainly a departure from traditional Maori leadership appointments, which typically involve the eldest child, who is typically a male.”
Taiuru described it as a “privilege” to observe a youthful Maori woman ascend to the throne, especially in light of the community’s increasing challenges and the aging leadership.
“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,” according to him.
“These challenges require a new and younger generation to lead us.”
