Jump to content

Māori King movement: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
expand intro
rv the first couple of lines: "an expression of Māori unity" is a little fluffy
Line 15: Line 15:
| date = 1858
| date = 1858
}}
}}
The '''Māori King Movement''' or '''''Kīngitanga''''' is a movement that arose among some of the [[Iwi|Māori tribe]]s of [[New Zealand]] in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the colonising people, the British, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land.<ref name="nzha">{{cite book|title=Bateman New Zealand Historical Atlas|chapter=Mana Whenua|page=plate 36|year=1997|ISBN=1-86953-335-6}}</ref> Today, the Māori monarch

The '''Māori King Movement''' or '''''Kīngitanga''''' is an expression of [[Māori]] unity that holds an established place in [[New Zealand]] society. The Māori monarch, whose domain is centered on the [[Tainui]] confederation of ''[[iwi]]'', or tribes, is a non-constitutional role with no legal power from the perspective of the New Zealand government. Reigning monarchs retain the position of paramount chief of several important tribes and wield some power over these, especially within Tainui.<ref name="Foster">{{cite web|last=Foster|first=Bernard|title=TE KĪNGITANGA|url=http://www.naumaiplace.com/site/owairaka/home/page/731/king-movement/|work=TE KĪNGITANGA|publisher=Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington|accessdate=2 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="mch">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/the-maori-king-movement/te-kingitanga/introduction|title=NZ History – The Māori King Movement|publisher=Ministry of Culture and Heritage|date=3 July 2008}}</ref>
is a non-constitutional role with no legal power from the perspective of the New Zealand government. Reigning monarchs retain the position of paramount chief of several important tribes and wield some power over these, especially within Tainui.<ref name="Foster">{{cite web|last=Foster|first=Bernard|title=TE KĪNGITANGA|url=http://www.naumaiplace.com/site/owairaka/home/page/731/king-movement/|work=TE KĪNGITANGA|publisher=Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington|accessdate=2 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="mch">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/the-maori-king-movement/te-kingitanga/introduction|title=NZ History – The Māori King Movement|publisher=Ministry of Culture and Heritage|date=3 July 2008}}</ref>


The current Māori monarch, [[Tuheitia Paki]], was [[Elective monarchy|elected]] in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10397245|title=Tuheitia new Maori king|publisher=[[New Zealand Herald]]|date=21 August 2006}}</ref> and his official residence is Tūrongo House at Tūrangawaewae marae in the town of [[Ngaruawahia]]. Tuheitia is the seventh monarch since the position was created and is the continuation of a dynasty that reaches back to the inaugural king, [[Pōtatau Te Wherowhero]].
The current Māori monarch, [[Tuheitia Paki]], was [[Elective monarchy|elected]] in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10397245|title=Tuheitia new Maori king|publisher=[[New Zealand Herald]]|date=21 August 2006}}</ref> and his official residence is Tūrongo House at Tūrangawaewae marae in the town of [[Ngaruawahia]]. Tuheitia is the seventh monarch since the position was created and is the continuation of a dynasty that reaches back to the inaugural king, [[Pōtatau Te Wherowhero]].

Revision as of 08:52, 2 October 2013

Te Arikinui of The Kīngitanga
Standard of the Kīngitanga
Incumbent
Tuheitia Paki
Details
StyleHis Majesty
Heir apparentNone, elective.
First monarchPōtatau Te Wherowhero
Formation1858

The Māori King Movement or Kīngitanga is a movement that arose among some of the Māori tribes of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the colonising people, the British, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land.[1] Today, the Māori monarch is a non-constitutional role with no legal power from the perspective of the New Zealand government. Reigning monarchs retain the position of paramount chief of several important tribes and wield some power over these, especially within Tainui.[2][3]

The current Māori monarch, Tuheitia Paki, was elected in 2006[4] and his official residence is Tūrongo House at Tūrangawaewae marae in the town of Ngaruawahia. Tuheitia is the seventh monarch since the position was created and is the continuation of a dynasty that reaches back to the inaugural king, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero.

The use of the title of "Maori King" has been challenged by a leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi of Northland, who says the monarch is not the king of all Māori.[5]

The movement arose among a group of central North Island iwi in the 1850s as a means of attaining Māori unity to halt the alienation of land at a time of rapid population growth by European colonists.[1] The movement sought to establish a monarch who could claim status similar to that of Queen Victoria and thus allow Māori to deal with Pākehā (Europeans) on equal footing. It took on the appearance of an alternative government with its own flag, newspaper, councillors, magistrates and law enforcement. But it was viewed by the colonial government as a challenge to the supremacy of the British monarchy, leading in turn to the 1863 invasion of Waikato, which was partly motivated by a drive to neutralise the Kingitanga's power and influence. Following their defeat at Orakau in 1864, Kingite forces withdrew into dense forest in an area of the North Island that became known as the King Country.[6][7]

History

Background

The flag hoisted at Ngāruawāhia on the proclamation of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero as Māori King, drawn in 1863
An early Maori King Movement flag used during the reign of Potatau Te Wherowhero.

From the early 1850s, North Island Māori came under increasing pressure to satisfy the demand of European settler farmers for arable land. While Māori cultivated small areas, relying on extensive forests for berry, birds and roots, settlers expanded their production capacity by burning forest and fern and planting grass seed in the ashes. Some influential chiefs including Te Rauparaha opposed land sales in the 1840s (culminating in the 1843 Wairau Affray), and the view became more widespread in the following decade, as Pakeha finally outnumbered Māori and the colonial government's Native Land Purchase Department adopted unscrupulous methods to take ownership, which included offers to chiefs or small groups of owners. Deals with individual Māori or groups that did not represent majority interests also dragged Māori into disputes with one another. As the white frontier encroached further on their land, many became concerned that their land, and race, would soon be overrun.[8][9]

From about 1853 Māori began reviving the ancient tribal runanga or chiefly war councils where land issues were raised and in May 1854 a large meeting—attracting as many as 2000 Māori leaders—was held at Manawapou in south Taranaki where speakers urged concerted opposition to selling land.[10] The meetings provided an important forum for Te Rauparaha's son, Christian convert Tamihana Te Rauparaha, who in 1851 had visited England where he was presented to Queen Victoria. Tamihana Te Rauparaha had returned to New Zealand with the idea of forming a Māori kingdom, with one king ruling over all tribes, and used the runanga to secure the agreement of influential North Island chiefs to his idea.[8] The kotahitanga or unity movement was aimed at bringing to Māori the unity that was an obvious strength among the Europeans.[10][8] It was believed that by having a monarch who could claim status similar to that of Queen Victoria, Māori would be able to deal with Pākehā (Europeans) on equal footing.

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero

The first Māori King, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero

Several North Island candidates who were asked to put themselves forward declined;[11] in February 1857, a few weeks after a key inter-tribal meeting in Taupo, Wiremu Tamihana, a chief of the Ngāti Hauā iwi in eastern Waikato, circulated a proposal to appoint as king the elderly and widely respected Waikato chief Te Wherowhero and a major meeting was organised for Rangiriri in April to deal with it. After initially declining, Te Wherowhero agreed in September 1857 to accept the kingship and in June 1858 he was anointed at Ngaruawahia, adopting the name Pōtatau Te Wherowhero or simply Pōtatau.[12][13]

In his acceptance speech Pōtatau stressed the spirit of unity symbolised by the kingship and called on his people to "hold fast to love, to the law, and to faith in God."[12] He was given a flag, a council of state, a code of laws, a "King's Resident Magistrate", police, a surveyor and a newspaper, Te Hokioi, all of which gave the movement the appearance of an alternative government. The lives of his followers were given new purpose with the lawmaking, trials, and lengthy meetings and debates.[8][14]

Governor Thomas Gore Browne had been watching developments with concern. In June 1857 he wrote to London that "I apprehend no sort of danger from the present movement, but it is evident that the establishment of a separate nationality by th Maoris in any form or shape if persevered in would end sooner or later in collision." Though there were still no signs the movement was developing an aggressive spirit, Browne soon began expressing his fear that "it will resolve into a conflict of race and become the greatest political difficulty we have had to contend with".[13]

Recognition of the new King, however, was not immediate: though there was widespread respect for the movement's efforts in establishing a "land league" to slow land sales, Pōtatau's role was strongly embraced only by Waikato Māori, with iwi of North Auckland and south of Waikato showing him scant recognition.[13] Some opponents dismissed the Kingitanga as a solely Waikato movement.[14] Throughout 1859 emissaries of the King Movement travelled through the North Island, including Taranaki, Wanganui and Hawkes Bay, seeking further adherents, with iwi sometimes divided in their support. Even within the movement there was deep division, as moderates aligned themselves with Wiremu Tamihana and anti-European extremists followed Ngāti Maniapoto chief and warlord Rewi Maniapoto, while tribal rivalries continued to weaken unity.[8] Historian B.J. Dalton observed: "Outside the Waikato, the King Movement appealed most to the younger generation who could see no other way of gaining the mana their fathers had won in battle."[15]

On 10 April 1860, three weeks after the start of the Taranaki wars, deputations from west coast tribes Te Āti Awa and Ngā Ruanui attended a gathering of Waikato Māori at Ngaruawahia and tendered their formal allegiance to the king. Discussions at that meeting, and at a second meeting at Peria six weeks later that attracted a large group of supporters from the lower Waikato, centered on hostilities in Taranaki and the question of whether the King Movement should intervene. A faction of moderates within the movement swung the decision against direct involvement, but news of the meetings led to panic in Auckland over the possibility of a Māori attack on the capital, in turn prompting what Dalton described as "a mood of savage vindictiveness towards all Māori".[16] In late June 1860 large numbers of Waikato Māori travelled to Taranaki to reinforce Te Āti Awa chief Wiremu Kingi's forces and joined in the plunder of abandoned farms, but the intervention was unorganised and on a limited scale, relieving Taranaki settlers of some fear of full-scale Kingite involvement.[16]

At the close of the First Taranaki War, Tamihana responded to a letter from Browne that demanded reparations from the Kingites for their plunder of settlers' goods in Taranaki by stating that the Waikato had never signed the Treaty of Waitangi and that Māori were a separate nation. "I do not desire to cast the Queen from this island, but from own piece (of land). I am to be the person to overlook my own piece," he wrote. Browne's plans, slowly revealed, for the invasion of Waikato were fuelled by his desire to uphold "the Queen's supremacy" in the face of the Kingitanga challenge.[17][18] Browne's successor, Sir George Grey told a large Māori gathering at Taupari near the mouth of the Waikato River in December 1861 that the King movement was bad and should be abandoned.[19]

Pōtatau died of influenza on June 25, 1860 and was succeeded by his son, Matutaera Tawhiao.

Tāwhiao's reign

Tāwhiao, the second Māori King (1860–1894)

Shortly after succeeding his father on 25 June 1860, King Tāwhiao had to contend with increasing friction between the Māori concerns over land rights and independence and those of the Auckland based settler government. The tension eventually erupted into a conflict known today as the New Zealand Wars. Tāwhiao's reign primarily revolved around this conflict and, later maintaining independent coexistence with the New Zealand government. Tawhiao founded the Kauhanganui, the Kingitanga parliament, in 1889 or 1890.[20]

Land Wars

Main article: New Zealand Wars
Map of Māori iwi with Ngati Mahuta iwi highlighted. Potatau te Wherowhero, the first Maori King, had ties to the Ngati Mahuta iwi. The Maori King Movement's territory roughly corresponded to the region marked "Tainui" on the map.

The King Movement had some influence over about a quarter of New Zealand's North Island—in particular, the lands of the Ngati Tuwharetoa, Taranaki, Whanganui and Tainui iwi that were involved in the movement's establishment but even in its Waikato heart land many Christian Maori sided with the government when conflict broke out. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Living in the King Country

After the 1863 military defeats in Auckland and the Waikato,the Kingitanga established their own press, police force, laws and governing body south of the Puniu River. Europeans who entered the Kīngitanga area were killed. However because the country was unproductive and the people cut themselves off from European civilisation they struggled to develop the Kīngitanga ideal. Drunkenness became a problem among the Kingitanga supporters south of the Puniu, particularly after the arrival of Te Kooti, who had a long established drink problem from his youth. Friction broke out between the Maniapoto hosts who wanted to engage with the European settlers and the conservative, mystic, Kīngitanga adherents who wanted to retain power and remain isolated.

Peace and opening-up

Masthead from Te Paki o Matariki, newspaper of the Kīngitanga (Māori King Movement), edition of 8 May 1893. This represents Matariki or the Pleiades as harbingers of good weather and fruitful endeavours.

Over time the more forward thinking ideas of Maniapoto prevailed, land was sold to the government and work was given to Tainui men on roads and on the main trunk line railway. Māori men were given the vote and Māori were given four members in parliament who all argued strongly for modernisation and acceptance of the benefits of Pākehā civilisation. Following this schools, stores and churches were built. Some of the Tainui leaders were employed by the government as advisors or given government pensions in recognition of their change of heart and willingness to engage with the government. Tainui continued to work behind the scenes to recover the remainder of the land they believed was wrongly confiscated (120,000 acres (490 km2) was returned by 1873) from them after their defeat during the Waikato Land Wars. Some land or reserves were given back to Tainui but this act caused intra-tribal friction for many years because most of the land retained by the government was in the north and central Waikato. [5]

20th century – present

Return of confiscated land

120,000 acres (490 km2) of land was returned to the rebels a few months after the British victory. In 1926 a government commission agreed to pay an annual payment of 3000 pounds. In 1946 an additional payment of 5000 pounds (later $15,000) per annum was made in perpetuity – this was a full and final payment. Since the 1990s Tainui have been actively seeking a resolution to their ongoing grievance over land confiscation. This has resulted in Tainui being gifted $170 million worth of government-owned land and financial compensation.

Te Atairangikaahu

Main article: Te Atairangikaahu

Dame Te Atairangikaahu, a child born within the marriage of Maori King Korokī Mahuta, was elected as the first Maori Queen on 23 May 1966 and served until her death on 15 August 2006. Her 40-year reign was the longest of any Maori monarch.

Present day

Following the death of his celebrated mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Tuheitia Paki was sworn in as the Maori King on 21 August 2006.

Today, the Maori monarch is a ceremonial position, one that is de facto subject to the New Zealand government. Although the monarchs of the Kingitanga are not recognised by the New Zealand law or many Maori tribes, they do hold the distinction of being paramount chiefs of a number of important Maori tribes and wield some power on a local level, especially within the Tainui iwi.[2]

Dealings with the Crown

After the end of the First Taranaki war which saw a defeat for the Ngati Maniapoto rebel Kingites in 1861, the British government under Governor Thomas Gore-Browne began making arrangements to attack the Kingites in Waikato to assert British authority over the interior of the North Island.

Main articles: Invasion of the Waikato and New Zealand Wars

Pōtatau who at this time lived at Mangere near Auckland, wished to continue to work in co-operation with the British Government, but many of his followers adopted an opposing position. The issue came to a head when kingites in Taranaki attacked a British military patrol escorting a soldier for trial were ambushed. Warned by the governor that setting up an alternative system of government would be viewed as rebellion, kingities armed themselves in preparation for attacks in Auckland. Kingities set up a self-declared boundary at Mangatawhiri stream and prepared a fortress/ farm on the Kohero Ridge. This culminated in warfare in the Waikato region in 1863–64, by which time Pōtatau had died (in 1860) and been succeeded by his son, Matutaera Tāwhiao, or King Tāwhiao. Tawhaio surrendered to the crown in 1865 to formally end the Waikato campaign of the Land wars. The surrender was unconditional but the government agreed that no Kingities would be arrested provided they remain peaceful.

In light of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, King Tāwhiao travelled to England to petition Queen Victoria in 1884 for an independent Māori parliament and an independent inquiry into land confiscations. His request to meet with the Queen was rejected and he was instead introduced to Lord Derby at the Colonial Office. He referred the petition to the New Zealand Government on the grounds that the Imperial government no longer had responsibility for such matters, but the New Zealand government dismissed it. All subsequent petitions taken to Britain were referred back to the New Zealand Government on the same grounds.[21]

During World War I kingite aligned iwi refused to serve in the New Zealand army. The Maori pioneer corps which fought at Gallipoli and the Western Front were volunteers from loyal or kupapa tribes such as Arawa.[22][23][24]

Succession

The position of Māori monarch is not hereditary in principle. The monarch is appointed by the leaders of the tribes involved in the Kīngitanga movement on the day of the previous monarch's funeral and before the burial.[25] To date, however, every new Māori monarch has been the previous monarch's heir by cognatic primogeniture, descending in seven generations from Pōtatau Te Wherowhero to the present Māori king. With each successive monarch, the role of Pōtatau's family has been entrenched, although after any reign ends there is the potential for the mantle to be passed to someone from another family or tribe if the chiefs of the various tribes are in agreement. Thus far, though, the monarchy has been hereditary in effect.

A European analogue is the position of Holy Roman Emperor, which was technically elective but which passed along the line of the House of Habsburg for more than three and a half centuries, though with a single exception.

Powers

The Kingitanga has been a parliamentary elected monarchy since 1890. Power is divided between the Kauhanganui, the Kingitanga and Waikato Tainui parliament, and the standing Maori monarch. The position of the Maori king is mainly a highly respected ceremonial role within the Waikato Tainui tribe with limited powers. Nevertheless, the standing monarch can influence tribal policy based on their mana and is entitled to appoint one of the 11 members on the Te Arataura, the executive board of the Kauhanganui.[26]

List of Māori monarchs

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Mana Whenua". Bateman New Zealand Historical Atlas. 1997. p. plate 36. ISBN 1-86953-335-6.
  2. ^ a b Foster, Bernard. "TE KĪNGITANGA". TE KĪNGITANGA. Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. ^ "NZ History – The Māori King Movement". Ministry of Culture and Heritage. 3 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Tuheitia new Maori king". New Zealand Herald. 21 August 2006.
  5. ^ "PM not bowing to pressue over Maori King". TVNZ/Fairfax. Auckland. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  6. ^ Walker, Ranginui (1990). Kaw Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End. Auckland: Penguin. p. 126. ISBN 0-14-013240-6.
  7. ^ Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855–1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 260.
  8. ^ a b c d e Sinclair, Keith (2000). A History of New Zealand (2000 ed.). Auckland: Penguin. pp. 115–119. ISBN 0-14-029875-4. Cite error: The named reference "sinclair" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ "The land issue - Maori king movement". New Zealand History Online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  10. ^ a b Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. pp. 62–63.
  11. ^ "In search of a king - Maori king movement". New Zealand History Online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Potatau agrees to be king". New Zealand History Online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. pp. 68–72, 83.
  14. ^ a b "A challenge to European authority?". New Zealand History Online. History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  15. ^ Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 83.
  16. ^ a b Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. pp. 110–112.
  17. ^ Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. pp. 128, 131.
  18. ^ Michael King (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand. Penguin Books. p. 214. ISBN 0-14-301867-1.
  19. ^ Dalton, B.J. (1967). War and Politics in New Zealand 1855-1870. Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 148.
  20. ^ "Tensions ease – Maori King movement 1860–94". Normilising relations. New Zealand History online. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  21. ^ NZHistory.net.nz
  22. ^ "Resistance to conscription – Maori and the First World War", nzhistory.net.nz
  23. ^ "Maori objection", nzhistory.net.nz
  24. ^ "Discussion by Chiefs: Position of Waikatos", 9 July 1917, Ashburton Guardian
  25. ^ "Leaders to debate succession and Kīngitanga's future". NZ Herald. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2006.
  26. ^ "Executive body of Te Kauhanganui". Te Arataura. Waikato Tainui. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Māori_King_movement&oldid=575411427"