Ko Te Kīngitanga tētehi o ngā kaupapa Māori tūroa mai i te wā o te taipūwhenua Pākehā, ko ia hoki tētehi o ngā kaupapa tōrangapū o Aotearoa. Mai o te tau 1858, kei te haere tonu i roto i ngā tau o te 2000. Ko te kīngi i tēnei tau 2012, ko Kīngi Tūheitia, te tuawhitu o ngā arikinui mai i te tīmatatanga o Te Kīngitanga.
Ko te Whakaaro ki tētehi Kīngi
I ngā wā o mua o te taenga mai o te Pākehā kāore he ‘Kingi’ o ngā iwi Māori katoa. Kei tēnā iwi tōna mana, kei tēnā tōna rangatira.Engari kei tēnā hapū tōna mana, kei tēnā hapū tōna rangatira. Heoi anō, i te tekau tau 1850 kua nui kē ake te tokomaha o ngā kainoho Pākehā, kua haukotia te Māori ki roto o ngā tōrangapū, kua kaha atu te hiahia a Te Karauna ki te hoko i te whenua Māori. Kua wehea te Māori, ko ētehi mō te hoko whenua, ko ētehi e kore rawa.
Ko tā ētehi Māori he rite te mana o tō rātou Kīngi kotahi ki tō Piritānia. He whakaaro nui nō roto o ngā tāngata i toro ki Ingarangi, i kite hoki i ngā kaupapa Piritānia, i ōna ahumahi, i ōna ope pirihimana, ope hōia e haere ana. Ko Piri Kawau (Te Āti Awa) tērā, i tūtaki i a Kuīni Wikitōria i te tau 1843, ko Tāmihana Te Rauparaha (Ngāti Toa) tērā, i tūtaki i a ia i te tau 1852. Ko tā rātou whakapono mā te kotahitanga o ngā iwi i raro i te kīngi kotahi, he ōrite te mana ki tō te Kuīni o Ingarangi, ka mutu ai te pakanga a tētehi iwi i tētehi, te pupuru a te iwi Māori i te whenua Māori, ā, ko te kāwanatanga o te Māori ka noho tonu ki te mana Māori motuhake.
Heoi tā Kawau rāua ko Tāmihana tahi, koia hei kīngi. Ēngari ko tā Kawau ki a Kuīni Wikitōria ko Pōtatau Te Wherowhero o Waikato te rangatira whaimana nui o Aotearoa. Ko tā Te Rauparaha, te rangatira rongonui, ki tāna tama ki a Tāmihana, kei wareware nā Waikato tōna iwi i pana i Kāwhia.
Tikanga whakakāhore
He rongonui te whakakāhoretanga a Te Kani-a-Takirau, nō te Tai Rāwhiti i te kīngitanga, me te kī:
Ko taku maunga ko Hikurangi,
He maunga tū tonu
Ehara i te maunga haere.
Ko tōku Kīngitanga
Nō tua whakarere,
Nō aku tīpuna o te Pō!
My mountain is Hikurangi,
It is an enduring mountain,
It is not a mountain that travels.
My kingship is from time immemorial,
Handed down from my ancestors.1
Hīnana ki Uta,Hīnana ki Tai
Mai i te tau 1853 ka haerea Te Motu e Mātene Te Whiwhi o Ngāti Raukawa rāua ko Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, ki te whakapāoho i te whakaaro ki te kīngi Māori mō te iwi Māori. Ka toroa e Te Whiwhi ngā ariki, e haere ana tuatahi ki Tōpia Tūroa, te ariki o Whanganui. Ko tā Tūroa, ‘Kāore au e whakaae. Ko taku maunga ko Matemate-a-onga. Ko tōku moana ko Whanganui, ko ngā kai o roto he toitoi he īnanga.’2
Ko tā Tūroa me inoi ki a Iwikau Te Heuheu, te ariki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa o Taupō Moana hei kīngi. Ko tā Te Heuheu, ‘Ko Tongariro te maunga, ko Taupo te moana, ko Te Heuheu te tangata. Kei waenganui ia o Te Motu, ka rere mai ngā roma i ngā tahataha katoa. Titiro, ko ngā ika o aua wai he kōkopu, he kōura, he kōaro.3 Ko tā Te Heuheu, kia tū ko Te Amohau o Te Arawa hei kīngi, ā, me taua kore e whakaae anō, pēnei: ‘Ko tōku maunga ko Ngongotahā, ko Rotorua te moana, ko ngā ika o roto he kōura, he kākahi, he īnanga.’4 Ko tā Te Amohau ko Te Hāpuku o Ngāti Kahungunu hei kīngi, nāna ko Te Kani-a-Takirau o Ngāti Porou. na, ko tāna, ‘Tūturu nō ngā tātai ariki o ō tūpuna, ēngari kei tētehi taha ahau o Te Ika nei. Waihoki, ehara taku maunga a Hikurangi i te maunga neke atu tōna wāhi.'5
He rangatira tūturu ēnei rangatira, he mārama pai he rangatira nō ō rātou iwi ake, engari mō waho atu me te hiki hoki i te kaupapa o te kīngi, nā reira te kupu mō ētehi atu. Ko Karauria o Ngāti Kahungunu, ko Tūpaea o Ngāi Te Rangi, ko Pāora Kīngi o Mataatua i toroa, kātahi te kaupapa ka whakahokia ki a Te Heuheu.
