The Maori Anoint New Queen

Last week, the Maori of New Zealand anointed a new Queen. 27-year-old Nga Wai Hono i te Po ascended to power as part of a traditional ceremony with a well-respected archbishop in the region. Of the eight Maori monarchs to rule, Nga Wai Hono i te Po and her grandmother are the only two women to take the throne.

The new Queen’s father, and former King, Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, passed away earlier this month and his daughter’s coronation ceremony took place following a week of ritual mourning.

Nga Wai Hono i te Po is the youngest child of the now-deceased King, and his only daughter. However, her new title was not passed down through lineage. Instead, tribal representatives came together to chose a successor.

“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,” the tribal leaders confirmed in a press statement.