Speech - Inaugural Kingitanga Day - Hon Dr Pita Sharples

The University of Waikato; Hamilton

Tuesday 21 April 2009; 10am

On the 12th November last year, three busloads of Kingitanga supporters accompanied King Tuheitia to Hastings, to be the guest of honour at the inaugural Takitimu Festival.

 

It was a momentous occasion on many counts.

 

A powhiri involving over 1000 from Kahungunu came together to welcome the new King to the Hawkes Bay.

 

It was the first official visit by a Maori royal, for some twenty five years, since the formal visit by the late Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

 

It was an opportunity to consolidate and celebrate the ties bound by whakapapa between Takitimu and Tainui.

 

In our lines of descent we are eternally connected through the marriage of Turongo, a tupuna from Waikato, to our Ngati Kahungunu tupuna, Mahinarangi.

 

And so as I travelled here today, I thought of those important connections.

 

Connections which evolved also from Te Ika-nui-o-te-moana, or more commonly known as Te Hapuku.

 

Te Hapuku, my eponymous ancestor, was a great Ngati Te Whatuiapiti leader of the eighteenth century who was one of the chiefs in the Hawkes Bay asked to select the first Maori King at the very onset of the Kingitanga movement.

 

And so our association with the Kingitanga is profound, is strong and enduring.

 

With me today, to join in honouring this special inaugural celebration of Kingi Tuheitia, is my colleague and co-leader of the Maori Party, Tariana Turia.

 

For Tariana, there are other associations that could be made to this special event.

 

In Whanganui, they link back to Pukawa in 1856, when Topia Turoa and Iwikau te Heuheu were in presence to support the nomination of Potatau Te Wherowhero. Later in June 1858, Turoa led some sixty men from Pipiriki to show allegiance to King Potatau, and the relationship has only got stronger since then.

 

Over the centuries, that close association between Whanganui and the Kingitanga has remained significant.

 

This year, Whanganui iwi were joined by King Tuheitia and his whanau on the annual tira hoe waka. During the Tira, the King’s daughter, Ngawai Hono i te Po celebrated her twelveth birthday at Pipiriki.

 

Ngawai Hono i te Po has a special link herself with Whanganui.

 

Her name represents the coming together of the two mighty rivers, Whanganui and Waikato; and reflects that at the time of her birth, her grandmother, the Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, was also taking part on that river journey, the tira hoe waka.

 

I have chosen to share these special associations made to the Kingitanga today, as a glimpse into the lives of tangata whenua throughout the motu, who will each have particular memories attached to this Kingitanga Day.

 

Just as Kahungunu are so proud of our relationship; Whanganui knows the precious association they have; all of Ngapuhi treasure their intimate connections – and so it goes on.

 

I am sure that throughout the course of this Kingitanga Day, this year and every year, the vital bonds that tie iwi to the movement, will be strengthened, and the relationships continue to thrive.

 

And that is exactly how it should be.

 

We, in the Maori Party, are extremely proud to be able to be part of this unique celebration; to pay tribute to the leadership, the inspiration and the wonder that is encapsulated in the concept of the Kingitanga.

 

And I want to acknowledge the University of Waikato for your initiative in drawing students, staff and the wider community together in this spectacular occasion.

You have taken a stand to honour our nationhood; to pay homage to the distinctive heritage and histories that is the Kingitanga.

 

You have taken a stand as a mark of respect for the monarch, Kingi Tuheitia.

 

You have taken a stand of principle, to recognize the importance of kotahitanga.

 

The Kingitanga is acknowledged by many iwi throughout Aotearoa, as a distinctive and ongoing expression of our unity as people.

 

It emerged at a time when tribes from across the land were feeling the pressure that emerged from the impact of rapid European population growth.

 

The desire to retain land was a central principle driving the establishment of the movement, as well as the commitment to Maori authority and autonomy, mana motuhake.

 

And so it is important today, to think back to the origins of the movement, and to also acknowledge the distinguished status the Kingitanga will always have for tangata whenua.

 

At the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, there were barely 2000 permanent European residents in Aotearoa, compared with 70,000 Maori.

 

Eighteen years later in 1858, Pakeha outnumbered Maori for the first time.

 

And so the Kingitanga plays a vital part in our history as a nation.

 

At the installation of the first King, Potatau te Wherowhero, he uttered an expression in his speech of acceptance, which is still a source of enormous strength to us today.

 

Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma,

te miro pango me te miro whero.

 

There is a single eye of the needle through which the white, black and red threads must pass.

 

This whakatauaki was an important message to us all, that the strength of mana Maori was a strength that united us all.

 

In the Maori Party, we acknowledge this rich history, through the colours we wear with pride in our corporate brand. Our colours represent the many paths, and the many peoples, that have come together to make New Zealand our home – our pathway forward to the future.

 

When we wear the red, the white, the black, we may think about:

 

Þ the white – te tohu o nga rangi – purity and a clean New Zealand;

 

Þ the black - te tohu o te ringa raupa - hard work and acknowledging the efforts to build a nation based on diverse cultural positions and visions;

 

Þ the red – tohu rangatira – the dignity, leadership and the pride we have for our country and our home.

 

It is an association we wear with pride in the name, Maori.

 

There are other direct links that I think of today between the Kingitanga, and the more recent establishment of a Maori Party, a strong and authentic voice of Maori within Parliament.

 

The founding of our party, just five years ago, came from the inspiration of tangata whenua, te kakano i ruia mai i Rangiatea, for the benefit of all citizens of this land. It is driven by a vision of cultural diversity and richness; it is based on the foundations of kaupapa tuku iho.

 

And so the calling of the Kingitanga to care for the heart and soul of the people is a calling we share in the Maori Party.

 

The historical association between the people and the land that first began with King Potatau is an association that also gave birth to our party with the most recent of confiscations, the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

 

What I have tried to do today, is to make explicit just some of the connections that can be made throughout Maoridom to the movement of the Kingitanga.

 

Whether it be iwi specific; or pan tribal; or political; the associations we all hold to the Kingitanga are but part of the rich fabric that we celebrate today.

 

In honouring the Kingitanga, and Kingi Tuheitia, we honour also then, ourselves as tangata whenua.

 

We must be proud of the strength of our alliances and relationships formed on whakapapa.

 

We can be grateful for the legacy of tikanga and kawa that have shaped our past and provide a solid foundation to develop on.

 

We can rely on kaupapa such as whakawhaungatanga; manaakitanga; kotahitanga; wairuatanga all expressions of the faith we place in the learnings of our ancestors.

 

We observe the important bonds we revere as mana whenua; and the sacred power of te reo rangatira in offering us a direct window into the heart and soul of our tupuna.

 

This is a day of great pride for us all – for tangata whenua and tangata tiriti alike.

 

It is a day when we honour and celebrate the special place of our indigenous peoples in this land and across the globe.

 

But is a time when we remember too, with great shame, that New Zealand was one of only four countries who failed to support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was signed by 143 nations of the world in September 2007.

 

And so this is a moment in time when we think also of the new challenges ahead.

 

The challenge to take up the leadership inspired by Australia in recent weeks, to take a fresh approach and to invest in the belief in indigenous peoples gives us hope that Aotearoa can also have the courage to demonstrate our respect for tangata whenua.

 

Most of all, today is a day, when we celebrate mana Maori motuhake.

 

We celebrate the long line of leadership from Potatau Te Wherowhero, to Matutaera Tawhiao, to Mahuta, to Te Rata, to Kingi Koroki, to Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu through to Kingi Tuheitia.

 

We celebrate the relationships we have each of us nurtured to the Kingitanga; relationships that we look forward to blossoming over time.

 

And so today, is a very significant marker, in all of our relationships, as we reflect on the important foundation that has been created in this inaugural Kingitanga Day.

 

From this day forward, my wish for us all, is that we can reflect on this, the very first Kingitanga Day hosted here by the University of Waikato, and be reaffirmed and revitalize in everything that we uphold as the meaning of tangata whenua; the people of our land.