Photos: Maori in New Zealand anoint a new queen
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New Zealand’s Maori chiefs have anointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch.
The choice of Nga Wai hono i te po removed was welcomed as a symbol of change for the Indigenous community.
She is the youngest child and only daughter of King Tuheitia, who died last week.
After being selected by a council of chiefs, Nga Wai was ushered to the throne by a group of men bearing ceremonial weapons who chanted, screamed and shouted in acclamation.
New Zealand’s Maori make up about 17 percent of the population or about 900,000 people.
Maori citizens are much more likely than other New Zealanders to be unemployed, live in poverty or suffer cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and suicide.
The Kiingitanga, or Maori King movement, was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting New Zealand’s tribes under a single sovereign in the face of British colonisation.
The Maori monarch is a mostly ceremonial role with no legal status but has enormous cultural significance as a symbol of Maori identity and kinship.
Queen Nga Wai is the eighth Maori monarch and the second queen.