May 13, 2022
King leads motu at Waitangi welcome
The Māori king will this morning lead the welcome at the Treaty Grounds in Waitangi for Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro.
It’s Dame Cindy’s first formal visit to the Waitangi National Trust, of which she is a patron.
King Tuheitia’s chief of staff, Ngira Simmonds says Kiingi Tuheitia is honoured to sit with hapū and iwi of Te Taitokerau.
He says the invitation from Ngāti Hine to hand over the paepae to the Kiingitanga and the rest of the motu did get some push-back from some in Ngāpuhi.
“Our stance was always the king’s going to come, let’s talk about it when we get to Waitangi on the marae ātea like our tūpuna did,” he says.
Mr Simmonds says after the discussion on the marae last night, te iwi Māori will stand today to welcome the new Governor-General with a unified voice.