IDNO

T.150575.RPT

Description

On Catalogue Card: "S.P. 207. New Zealand. Ngarua Wahia. 35mm Koda." [Poignant's manuscript]
"Whole roll is of various cultural groups from different tribes and institutions dancing for celebrations of coronation of Maori queen." [Poignant's typed text]

A group of Māori women performing a dance, wearing tops and headbands with black and white designs and piupiu (skirts). The dancers have moko (facial markings, customarily tattooed but possibly body paint). Five of the group are sitting on the ground facing a leader who is seated and facing them. All of the dancers have their arms raised and the leader has a mere pounamu (greenstone club) tucked into her piupiu. [KK 22/06/2022]

On catalogue card for related images: "S.P. 206. New Zealand. Ngarua Wahia. 35mm Koda." [Poignant's manuscript]
"The Maori 'queen' is chieffess [sic] of the Waikato tribes and she lives at Ngaruawahia, near Hamilton, N.Z. These slides show her coronation celebrations in 1969. The honoured guest was the King of Tonga and the Tongans brought lengths of tapa cloth and mats. The Rarotongans also brought gifts. The cultural groups of the various tribes and institutions such as high schools etc. took part in dancing etc." [Poignant's typed text]

Place

Oceania Polynesia; New Zealand; North Island; Waikato; Ngāruawāhia; Tūrangawaewae Marae

Cultural Affliation

Māori

Named Person

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu

Photographer

Poignant, Axel

Collector / Expedition

Date

May 1969

Collection Name

Poignant Collection

Source

Poignant, Roslyn

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.148696.RPT - T.152693.RPT were located in the drawer file of transparency sheets, numbered C1021/.

T.150569.RPT - T.150592.RPT were located in a transparency sheet, numbered C1021/81.

Bibliographical reference: Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31996, 24 May 1969, p.2. "Anniversary Of Maori Queen
(N.Z. Press Association) Hamilton, May 23. Over 6000 people are expected to gather on the Turangawaewae marae at Ngaruawahia during the week - end for celebration to mark the second anniversary of the coronation of the Maori Queen, O Te Atirangikaahu. Tonight, many of the estimated 6000 people will arrive from as far away as the South Island. They will be accommodated in permanent sleeping houses at the Turangawaewae Pa and in seven large marquees. The week - end programme began this morning when a session marking the recognition of the anniversary was held on the marae." [source: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19690524.2.15.8 KK 28/10/2022]

Biographical reference: "Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu [1931 - 2006] was the first woman chosen to lead the Kīngitanga (the Māori king movement). She served as Māori queen for over 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Te Atairangikaahu came to enjoy a national profile, embodying Māori identity and symbolising Māori mana at a time when Māori were increasingly asserting their language, culture and rights under the Treaty of Waitangi." [source: Rāhui Papa and Paul Meredith. 'Te Atairangikaahu Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2018. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6t4/te-atairangikaahu-koroki-te-rata-mahuta-tawhiao-potatau-te-wherowhero KK 28/10/2022]

Context: "The seat of the King movement is Tūrangawaewae, a marae located at Ngāruawāhia. [...] The establishment of Tūrangawaewae marae during the 1920s and 1930s was guided by the influential Waikato – and indeed New Zealand – leader, Te Puea Hērangi, a granddaughter of King Tāwhiao." [source: Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, 'Waikato tribes - Tūrangawaewae', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/waikato-tribes/page-5 KK 28/10/2022]

Publication: Image published in Te Koroneihana | Coronation
Celebrating Te Atairangikaahu, Māori Queen. 2023. MAA Digital Lab Online Exhibition with the following caption: "Performers move in different formations as they tell stories. These seated dancers are representing people in a waka (canoe). " [source: https://museums.cam.ac.uk/story/te-koroneihana-coronation/ KK 14/08/2023]