The Māori Queen is following in her grandmother’s footprints

Long after the crowds had paid their respects to Kīngi Tūheitia, the new Māori Queen, Ngā Wai hono i te pō, sat with the Waikato-Tainui tribe members who had dug her father’s grave – and then buried him – atop the Taupiri maunga.
Just seven days ago, the 27-year-old’s world was flipped upside down when her father, the much-loved Kīngi Tūheitia, died at the age of 69.
Since last Friday, Ngā Wai, has witnessed thousands of Māori and non-Māori make their way – and bring their aroha and respect – to Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia, the spiritual home to the Waikato-Tainui Kingitanga movement.
Yesterday was no different, as busloads arrived to witness first-hand a once-in-a-generation event – the burial of Kīngi Tūheitia, on the sacred Taupiri Mountain. He was buried alongside the previous seven Māori monarchs, in an unmarked grave, which is Kīngitanga tradition.
Last night was her first day as the new head of the Kīngitanga.
“This Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō has my upmost respect and I’m a person that hardly shows that to anybody,” Wally Semenoff wrote on Facebook as he posted a picture of the team who had been up early Thursday to dig Kīngi Tūheitia’s grave.
“Today she showed that respect and aroha to us gravediggers on Taupiri maunga. She sat on a bench while we buried her father, cleaned up the area and put the flowers on the grave and she walked over and wanted a photo with us.
“That shows to me she has a lot of respect for her people because a lot of other people would look at us as just gravediggers but in her eye she knew we were important to the iwi.”
Like her grandmother Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Ngā Wai has a opportunity to unify Māori for common good and common causes.
And also like her nana, Ngā Wai was anointed ahead of her older male siblings, “that should make for interesting dinner conversations” a source said.
New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones said Ngā Wai’s appointment was a game changer for the Kīngitanga.
“This is more than a generational shift,” Jones said. “She will be the face of renewal.
“Given the extent of Māori youth, I suspect she will personify their aspirations.”
Māoridom have also given Ngā Wai’s appointment the thumbs up.
National Urban Māori Authority chair Lady Tureiti Moxon said Ngā Wai was the new face for Māoridom.
“She is the right person for the job, to take the mantle of Kīngitanga, and I’m sure she will have the support and love of the people to carry her through.”
Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere said alongside the Waikato-Tainui Party MP, Hanna-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the future looked bright for wāhine Māori leadership.
“This kid was born into a digital era and has different skills to that of her father and grandmother but she’s right on the button and could have a long reign ahead. She is of the Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke era.”
In 2016, Ngā Wai got her moko kauae to support and acknowledge her father.
What Ngā Wai also inherits from her tupuna is her humility – as seen yesterday by the thousands who came and went from Tūrangawaewae Marae.
Educated at Te Whare Kura o Rakaumanga in Huntly she received a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship in 2016, completing a BA followed by an MA with First Class Honours at Te Whare Wananga o Waikato (University of Waikato) in 2022.
She has held several governance roles as representative of the Kiingitanga, including the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust and the Waitangi National Trust.