Flavell Te Ururoa: Obituaries — Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Obituaries — Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu 
[Volume:633;Page:4745] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena tatou katoa o te Whare. E ki ana te korero: “Waikato taniwha rau he piko he taniwha he piko he taniwha.” Tainui waka e tangi e tangi e tangi. Ko te ahuatanga ki te hunga mate waiho tera korero ki reira. Me huri inaianei ki te Kingi hou Tuheitia Paki uri o nga matua o nga tupuna. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Madam Speaker and to all of us in the House. The proverb says this: “Waikato of a hundred chiefs at every bend there is a chief.” To you the canoe of Tainui weep mourn grieve. In respect of the dead I leave that matter there. Let us turn now to the new King Tuheitia Paki a descendant of the ancestors. 
] 
Tena koe. I stand today to follow on the number of comments made already but in particular to honour the new king Te Arikinui Tuheitia Paki and in doing so I mihi to a long line of leaders a whakapapa of chiefs and chieftainship. We have heard a whakatauki frequently cited over this last week: mate atu he tete kura ara mai ra he tete kura—as one fern frond falls over another is uncoiling to replace it. When we welcome Te Arikinui Tuheitia we acknowledge too the fern fronds that have fallen away to make way for the new king. 
Our tributes to the new king recognise the historic events in 1857 at Pukawa on the south-eastern shores of Taupo when Potatau Te Wherowhero was elected as king. Apparently he was a big man. The records show that he stood over 6 foot tall. He was an eloquent orator a tribal historian an academic a scholar a leader and a warrior. Upon his untimely death some 2 years later his son Matutaera Tawhiao took on the mantle of responsibility. Tawhiao established a proud history that would give expression to the King movement. Notably he established the Maori Parliament Te Kauhanganui. 
In his time Tawhiao led a deputation to England to petition Queen Victoria. He sought an independent Maori Parliament and an independent commission of inquiry into land confiscations. I want to refer back to the petition of Tawhiao Wiremu Te Wheoro Patara Te Tuhi Topia Turoa and Hori Ropihana as it provides this House with a strong basis to understand the heritage—the lineage from whence the new king emerges. The petition of 1884 stated: “We the Maori chiefs of New Zealand have come to this distant land into your presence on account of the great disaster which has overtaken your Maori race which is beloved by the Queen and the people of England. 
Accordingly we have now swum the ocean of Kiwa which lies between us and have reached England in safety the source and fountain of authority to the place where the Queen lives that she may redress the ills of the Maori race inflicted on them by the government of New Zealand who have not directed their attention to right those wrongs up to the present time and those wrongs are still being committed … because there was a tender regard displayed by the Queen to her Maori race as shown in the Treaty of Waitangi therefore it is well that those contracts and those ills should be brought before you for your consideration.” 
This is the history of the Kingitanga but this is also our history—our foundation as a nation. I understand that in 1882 2 years before the delegation led by King Tawhiao northern chiefs had also petitioned Queen Victoria to investigate the colonial Government and establish a Maori Parliament. Indeed through the archives of  
Hansard 
 we see that Hone Heke Ngahua member of Parliament for Northern Maori of Ngati Rahiri and Ngapuhi referred to this precedent in a debate in 1894 on the Native Rights Bill. He said: “The Natives had in many instances raised the question of the Treaty of Waitangi and asked that the provisions of that Treaty to be maintained by the different Governments of New Zealand but without avail. … several petitions signed by prominent chiefs of the Native race were sent to England making enquiries whether the Treaty of Waitangi was repealed as stated. The answer to a number of the petitioners was to the effect that this Treaty signed in 1840 was as good now as it was then.” 
Representatives of my own people similarly petitioned Queen Victoria in August 1891. King Te Rata followed in 1914 and 10 years later in 1924 Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana travelled to the seat of the British Empire taking his petition for the Treaty of Waitangi to the Queen. This is the new king’s whakapapa. This is the new king’s training. This is the future for Aotearoa. It is a history that was referred to by Ruia Aperahama on Sunday when he pledged the ongoing support of the Ratana movement for the Kingitanga. 
In 1894 King Tawhiao was succeeded by his son Mahuta. Mahuta became a member of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council of Parliament thus involving the Kingitanga in mainstream politics. From 1912 Mahuta’s son Te Rata continued the legacy left to him by seeking redress for the grievances seeking to redress the ills transferred from Government to Government. 
From Te Rata came his son King Koroki who during his 33 years of leadership was greatly assisted by his auntie Te Puea Herangi. Te Puea herself is legendary for the stand she took on behalf of the people. A pacifist she opened her farm at Mangatawhiri to operate as a refuge for all of those who chose not to enlist. She worked tirelessly to make the best use of Waikato land to build the economic and social position of the people. Following the savage assault of the 1918 influenza epidemic she gathered up 100 orphaned children and founded Turangawaewae. It was Te Puea also who founded the annual circuit of poukai to feed the hungry and dispossessed and to nurture the soul of the people. She realised that the greatest resource lay in the people and she set about an energetic relentless pursuit of economic and educational prosperity for her people. Her outstanding leadership and her untiring selfless devotion to the interests of her people were demonstrated in the negotiation of settlements for the confiscation of Waikato land but also were strengthened in her alliance with major figures such as Sir Apirana Ngata. 
When King Koroki died his daughter Te Atairangikaahu became the Kingitanga’s first woman leader. Kei Te Arikinui wahine purotu wahine rangatira wahine humarie haere atu ra ki nga matua ki nga tupuna.  
[ 
To Arikinui beautiful woman chiefly and modest go to the forefathers and the ancestors. 
]  
Throughout many of the speeches delivered over the last week we have heard the phrase “apiti hono tatai hono” which literally means that that which is joined together becomes an unbroken line. This expression affirms the joining of the living with those departed ancestors. In a spiritual sense it is understood that the living are guided by those who have gone before us. So when we welcome and formally recognise the new king the seventh leader of the Kingitanga we should remember also all of those leaders who have left their legacy since that time in 1857 at Pukawa. 
We know too that the kiwi feather cloak of King Tawhiao that was wrapped around the new king yesterday brought with it traditions rituals and protocols that King Tuheitia has been immersed in from birth. He was at the side of his grandfather King Koroki when his mother Te Atairangikaahu was ordained just as his eldest son stood proudly at his side yesterday. But our new king has also been trained in the scholarship of matauranga Maori through his education at Rakaumanga school. He has also been a performer with the Taniwharau Cultural Group. He brings to the role his contemporary experience of management and business experience acquired in his work at Te Wananga o Aotearoa. 
Perhaps I can be forgiven for saving the very best for last. He has the supreme honour—indeed the rare privilege—of having been schooled at one of the finest schooling institutions in the land: the great St Stephen’s School—Tipene. So this welcome to the new king also comes with the blessing of an exclusive community represented in this House by the esteemed company of the member from the north Mr Hone Harawira Mr Mahara Okeroa Shane Jones and myself—all old boys of St Stephen’s School. 
I have taken time to traverse the background of Te Arikinui King Tuheitia so that we can all prepare the path ahead to welcome our new monarch. It is a path however that is walked not only by the king. I pay my respects to his wife Te Atawhai who was yesterday similarly crowned with the responsibility of being married to the monarch; to their children; as well as to Whatumoana Paki who stood by Te Atairangikaahu throughout her reign over the 40 years. As her beloved husband he dedicated himself to supporting her to support the nation. 
 Finally I draw the attention of this House to the two beautiful girls draped in blankets at the foot of the new king. I think of Whatumoana Korotangi and Naumai the king’s three children and the obligations they will now uphold their duty to serve and their responsibilities to Tainui to tangata whenua to Aotearoa and to the world. 
We the people will always remember Te Arikinui. We will hold dear to her memory we will honour her legacy and we welcome the new king Tuheitia. Kia ora tatou.