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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of New Zealanders gathered on Monday to bury the Maori queen, one of the country's most respected indigenous leaders, and celebrate the inauguration of her son as her successor.
The tribal home of Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who died of kidney failure last Tuesday, aged 75, was overflowing as Maori of many tribes, New Zealand and Pacific political leaders, and many others of different races attended her funeral ceremony.
Before the start of the service Dame Te Ata's eldest son, Tuheitia Paki, was invested as the seventh leader of the Maori King Movement.
The movement was founded and has been based in the Waikato region in the central North Island, but leaders from Maori tribes throughout New Zealand were consulted on the succession.
Moments before Paki's crowning, the crowd was asked if he should be king, to which they answered with a resounding "Ae" (yes).
Wearing a feather cloak, he sat on an elaborately carved wooden throne beside his mother's coffin.
Messages of condolence from the Queen and Prince Charles were read to the service.
"Dame Te Ata gave a lifetime of service and dedication," said the queen in her message. "Her leadership, dignity and compassion will long be remembered."
Three white doves symbolizing the spirit of the Maori queen were released just before her casket, draped in an historic woven mat and adorned by a bird carved from jade, was carried to a large canoe, which took her up the Waikato River to her tribe's sacred burial mountain.
Thousands of people lined both sides of the river for the journey of around 15 km (9 miles). Spontaneous songs and dances of respect broke out as the canoe passed.
Her coffin was carried shoulder high by bare-chested warriors through throngs of mourners to the mountain, where the previous five leaders have been buried.
The Maori monarchy has no formal constitutional or legal role in New Zealand, but the position carries considerable prestige.
An estimated 100,000 people filed past her coffin during the six days it was laid in state at her tribe's main meeting place at Ngaruawahia, about 100 km (60 miles) south of Auckland. Over the past week flags have flown at half mast on official buildings and the national rugby team, the All Blacks, wore black armbands and observed a minute's silence before Saturday's match against Australia.
The King Movement was established in the late 1850s by Maori in the Waikato region in response to land losses to European settlers and to negotiate with the then colonial government.
Maori make up about 15 percent of the population of 4.1 million people of the small South Pacific nation.
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