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Royal Zealand

December 21st, 2009 admin No comments

Royal Zealand
who is the leader(king or queen)of Maori in new zealand now? and who was the last one?and when he or she died?

i know that new zealand is now governed by British .....but i want to know some thing about the royal familied who were leading the maori people ....and whether they are still there or not?.....who remaim from them .....? are they working in social works or they just work like otherv people ..? do they still have respect from their people ?

The way the question and the additional comments are phrased implies that there is or that there ever was a Maori ‘nation’ over which a Maori King or Queen presided or presides. This is not correct and never has been. The Maori people consisted of a number of independent tribes who fought as much against each other as they did against the European colonialists. And, before proceeding to answer your question, I would like to point out that the British do not ‘govern’ New Zealand in anything other than name. While the titular head of state is indeed Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand for all practical purposes governs itself. It has its own parliament elected by all New Zealanders, including Maori, and it’s own Supreme Court. I have no doubt that, in time, it will divest itself of the last remaining illusions of British sovereignty and become a republic.

As I said before, there never has been a Maori nation, but there is nothing that brings a divided people together more than a dominating common enemy. As colonialism progressed, it became increasingly clear that Europeans would, by fair means or foul (mostly the latter), take control of New Zealand. Of course, the Maori tribes would not sit idly by and let this happen and so there was considerable unrest and hostility. The Treaty of Waitangi (1840) was an attempt by the British Crown to resolve the fighting and bring stability. Not all the Maori chiefs signed this treaty and, over the next few years, it became clear to many of those who had, that the treaty was not being upheld in the way it was envisioned. So in 1857/8 a number of embattled Maori tribes elected a ‘King’ (TE WHEROWHERO - Potatau) who was at the time paramount chief of the Waikato tribes. This was an attempt to counteract the sovereignty being exercised by the British Crown and unify the Maori people. There was no constitutional power in the position and the role of King/Queen has never functioned as Europeans understand it. The current queen - Te Atairangikaahu - is a direct descendent of Te Wherowhero, is (I believe) the 6th such ‘monarch’ and is the first woman to hold the position. She attempts to act as a unifying force for Màori. She is highly respected by New Zealanders in general and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from both Waikato and Victoria (Wellington) Universities. She hosts some royal and diplomatic visits to New Zealand mainly from the Pacific region and represents the Maori people at state events overseas. She supports Màori arts, and is generally a positive force for all things Maori. The role continues to have no constitutional function.