Te Atairangikaahu
Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu (short: Dame Te; German to about bird flying in the sky just before sunset; actually Piki Mahuta, born July 23, 1931 † August 15, 2006 in Ngaruawahia, Waikato District) was the sixth queen of Māori.
Life
Te Atairangikaahu, born Piki Mahuta, was the daughter of King Koroki V., who had provided early for a leadership role. According to Te Atairangikaahu was prepared and trained for this role. Soon she had her personality been strengthened in that it successfully against an arranged marriage are resisting and 1952 with Whatumoana Paki could marry the man of her choice. The couple had five daughters and two sons.
On May 23, 1966 ascended with Te Atairangikaahu first woman to the throne of the Māori. As a monarch without own land and political power, the focus of her government were in representing their people and to protect and defend the rights of Māori. They motivated their people, to preserve its culture and especially the Māori women to participate actively and to take over the design of their lives into their own hands.
At the same time was chairman of the Te Atairangikaahu Kingitanga, the political movement of the Māori. Here she sat mainly in accents of reconciliation and rapprochement of their people to the Pākehā, the European-born New Zealanders and other non- Māori. Her work brought her not only the recognition and respect of their own people. So she was ever appointed in 1970 as the first Māori of Queen Elizabeth II to the lady and in 1987 received also the first Māori, the Order of New Zealand.
2005 caused diabetes, renal failure, the Te Atairangikaahu henceforth forced to dialysis. In July 2006, she came to the hospital because of a heart attack, but this could still leave before her birthday. Three weeks later, Te Atairangikaahu passed away surrounded by her family. With over 40 years she ruled the longest over the people of the Māori. According to tradition, it was seven days later, on 21 August 2006, with a waka, a Maori canoe, on the Waikato River to Taupiri, the sacred mountain of Māori in the North Island, driven and buried at the summit. There are the graves of many chiefs and all previous monarchs.
Their eldest son, Tuheitia Paki, was appointed on the same day as his successor.