Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po Photo: Supplied / Te Tari o te Kiingitanga
The annual week-long celebrations of the anniversary of the Māori Monarch's ascension and coronation will be held at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia from Tuesday through to Saturday and will include kapa haka, visits from traditional Pacific leaders and a first speech from Te Arikinui.
Kiingitanga spokesperson Rahui Papa said the last year has been one of mourning for Kiingi Tuheitia so it will be a remembrance gathering for him, his mother and grandfather and the entire line of succession.
"But this year will also have a focus on te anamata, on the future and where to for the Kiingitanga from here and how can we follow on from the hui aa motu that was called by Kiingi Tuheitia, follow on from the Koroneihana last year and follow on from the mammoth tangi that we hosted one year ago.
"We're going to have an air of lifting the heaviness that we've felt over the last year and bringing us back into what I term is the world of light, from te pouri o te ngaromanga o te Kiingi, the sadness of the passing of the King."
But while there will be an air of mourning the Koroneihana will also be a celebration of the Kiingitanga and it's history. Friday will include a first speech from Te Arikinui and Kapa Haka from iwi across the motu will feature all week culminating with a festival day on Saturday.
"This is about us celebrating us," Papa said.
For Te Arikinui it will be a time of mourning but Papa said she may be feeling some trepidation heading into her first Koroneihana as "you don't really know what you're gonna get at the first one."
"There is an air of trepidation but there's an air of excitement as well, I think that Te Arikinui will actually be calling on more of a younger generation to provide whakaaro alongside the old and traditional types," he said.
Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po. Photo: Supplied / Te Tari o te Kiingitanga
On Thursday traditional leaders from across the Pacific will visit Turangawaewae to pay their respects. Over her first year as monarch Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has made multiple visits to the Pacific.
Papa said it's hugely important to have Pacific leaders visit Waikato because they were there for the last Koroneihana and throughout the tangi for Kiingi Tuheitia.
The visits Te Arikinui has made across the Pacific is to not only honour the legacy of her father but to reentrench the traditions built up across multiple generations connecting the Kiingitanga to the Pacific, he said.
"So a lot of these traditions especially with the royal house of Tonga was from Te Puea and Queen Sālote in their time and then the successive Monarchs throughout that time. The Tahiti whānau has been part and parcel of the whānau from the Pacific, the Cook Islands, the Fijians, the Samoans, the Hawaiians, right across the Pacific."
In the time of King Koroki his daughter Te Atairangikaahu went with Te Puea Herangi across a number of Pacific nations and those foundational aspects of whanaungatanga has been a key part of Koroneihana celebrations, he said.
Invitations have also been extended to politicians from various parties, he said.
"But our focus for this year is about consolidating the kotahitanga o te iwi Māori me te Moana Nui a Kiwa, so those of like minds will come together. We don't really want to focus on the governmental aspects that are happening or the begrudging and the moaning all of those things that have come up in recent times."
Papa extended the invitation to people of all backgrounds to attend the Koroneihana.
"Welcome to all walks of life to come and celebrate... to commemorate the year of Kiingi Tuheitia and to celebrate the very first Koroneihana of Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po. And we say, nau mai haere mai, welcome."
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