Te Atairangikaahu

Dame Te Atairangikaahu (born Pikimene Korokī Mahuta, 23 July 1931 – 15 August 2006) reigned as Māori Queen from 1966 until her death in 2006. Her reign was the longest of any Māori monarch.

Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui (meaning Paramount Chief) and name Te Atairangikaahu (meaning the hawk of the morning sky) were bestowed when she became monarch. Her full whakapapa (lineage) name, linking her to previous Māori monarchs, was Te Atairangikaahu Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero.

Life She was born to the name Pikimene Korokī Mahuta within the marriage of Korokī Mahuta and Te Atairangikaahu Hērangi; Korokī Mahuta fathered older daughters, Tuura the younger of two, both by Tepaia, an earlier relationship.

Reign

Korokī died on 18 May 1966. Leaders from the Kīngitanga subsequently elected Princess Piki to succeed her father during the six-day tangihanga (funeral rites); after an initial reluctance to accept the title, she formally became queen on 23 May, the day Korokī was buried. To mark the accession, she adopted the name of her mother, Te Atairangikaahu, who died the previous year. On 11 July 2006, she suffered what appeared to be a heart attack, and was admitted to intensive care in Waikato Hospital, Hamilton. She was discharged from hospital later in the month, in time to celebrate her 75th birthday.

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu died on 15 August 2006 at her official residence, Tūrangawaewae marae in Ngāruawāhia. Six of her seven children were present, with one daughter en route from Australia.

Her death sparked a week of mourning for Māoridom leading to her funeral on 21 August 2006. She is buried on Taupiri mountain in an unmarked grave, as are her ancestors, as a sign of equality with their people. Queen Elizabeth II sent her condolences.

Her widower, Whatumoana Paki, wanted a tombstone for his wife, but members of the royal family do not have grave markings. Instead, Paki paid tribute to his wife by planting a breed of purple roses, named specifically for Te Atairangikaahu, around a memorial stone outside their home. so any of her children or a leading figure from another iwi could have been appointed as her successor.

Honours In the 1970 New Year Honours, Te Atairangikaahu was the first Māori to be appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, "for outstanding services to the Māori people".

On 6 February 1987, Te Atairangikaahu was the first appointee to the Order of New Zealand and her badge of the order bears the number 1.

She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Waikato University in 1973, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Victoria University in 1999. In 1986, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of St John.

She was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 1993, she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.

Posthumously, Tuheitia, her son and successor as Māori King, honoured her as the namesake of the Illustrious Order of Te Arikinui Queen Te Atairangikaahu when he established the Māori Kīngi Honours in 2014.