With the Koroneihana this week marking the first anniversary of the ascension to the Kīngitanga throne of Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, and large crowds gathered at  Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia for the occasion, my latest newsletter looks back to the origins of the Kīngitanga. Through a series of questions and answers I explore the reasons behind its emergence, the Crown’s response, and the Kīngitanga today.

Q.  Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was chosen as the first Māori King in 1858. Was the idea of a monarch relevant to the Māori world?

A. The notion of a monarchy as such is one that has no precedent in Māori culture. In saying that, it would be a mistake to equate the Kīngitanga with a European-style monarchy. It is not and neither was it a mere imitation of the British monarchy. There were many uniquely Māori elements to the rise of the Kīngitanga, including the process by which the first King was chosen, and the tribal alliances and connections that were at the heart of the movement. The Kīngitanga was and remains deeply grounded in tikanga and custom. What it demonstrated was the ability of custom to evolve according to new circumstances.

Q. Looking back to the establishment of the Kīngitanga, why was there a need for unification of Māori under a King?

A. This was a period when Māori were confronted with a range of complex new challenges – many of which had no precedent in Māori society. Lands might be sold from under the feet of customary owners. New crops and animals prompted a range of issues over their ownership or fencing. Christian codes that mingled with older customs raised other issues. And some communities wanted to ban or control particular items from their rohe (such as alcohol). All of these required a degree of unity, and new and improved mechanisms of self-governance.

Q. What was the political environment in New Zealand during Pōtatau's formative years?

A. Te Tiriti o Waitangi had been signed in 1840. Contrary to popular myth, New Zealand was not magically transformed into a colony ruled from London overnight. On the ground, little changed in many districts and tribes like Tainui continued to manage their own affairs as they always had. But what the Treaty did do is introduce a new player to the local scene in the form of the Crown, as well as signalling the start of a period of mass British migration to New Zealand that would see Māori outnumbered in their own country before the end of the 1850s. And those new settlers were often not willing to play second fiddle to a people they regarded as inferior to themselves. So the seeds of disharmony are there from the start, especially as Māori continue to assert their rangatiratanga and settlers demand self-rule and unimpeded access to Māori lands.

Q. Was the creation of a Māori monarch a response to colonisation?

A. The motives of those who supported the Kīngitanga in its formative years were many and varied. For many, it was a way of improving Māori unity and self-governance, especially at a time when Māori communities were confronted with new challenges. But there is no doubt that one of those key challenges was an increasingly powerful settler community that demanded the right to govern the colony. A key catalyst for the crisis that followed was the New Zealand Constitution Act that was passed by the British Parliament in 1852. It established the forerunner to the modern New Zealand Parliament, and an executive answerable to Parliament was selected in 1856.

But Māori were effectively disenfranchised because they did not hold their lands under individual title and were therefore ineligible to vote. And section 71 of the constitution, providing for the establishment of self-governing ‘native districts’ was never given effect, even though it remained on the statute books until 1986. And so a settler government is established that is overwhelmingly hostile to Māori interests. And even though the governor retains some key powers into the 1860s, the situation is one that becomes increasingly intolerable.

Q. How important was Pōtatau's agreement to take on the mantle of King?

A. Pōtatau had long been identified as among the most powerful rangatira in the land. And his whakapapa connected him with all the major waka that Māori traced their descendant from. It took many efforts to persuade Pōtatau to accept the title. He was elderly, had nothing left to prove and was already one of the most senior ariki in the land. So it took considerable effort before he relented and eventually agreed to take the role.