Whatumoana Paki (1 February 1926 – 22 September 2011) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

royal elder. Paki was the husband of the Māori Queen,

Te Atairangikaahu Dame Te Atairangikaahu (23 July 1931 – 15 August 2006) was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui (meaning ''Paramount C ...

, who reigned from 1966 to 2006. He and Te Atairangikaahu were the parents of the present

Māori King Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, Tuheitia Paki.

Biography

Paki was born in

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

. His father was Wetere Paki of the Ngāti Whawhakia subtribe of the Waikato tribe. His mother Frances Paki (née Brown) was from

Te Aupōuri Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Te Reo ...

, the northernmost Māori

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, or tribal group, in New Zealand. Paki worked as a farmer and

coalminer Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

during his early career. He became one of the principal maintenance people for Māori

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

located along the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

, which includes the Mangatautari marae. By the 1950s, Paki began dating Princess Piki Mahuta, the only daughter of both King Korokī and his wife Te Atairangikaahu Hērangi. The couple married in 1952. They had seven children - Heeni Wharemaru, Kiri Tokia Ete Tomairangi, Tuheitia, Maharaia, Mihikiteao, Kiki and Te Manawanui. They lived at Waahi Pā in Huntly, in a home Paki helped to build. King Korokī died in 1966. Paki's wife succeeded her father as Māori Queen and became known as

Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu Dame Te Atairangikaahu (23 July 1931 – 15 August 2006) was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui (meaning ''Paramount C ...

. As the consort of the Queen, Paki had to step back from public statements and defer public opinions to her. Dame

Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi (born 21 March 1929) is a New Zealand advocate of Māori language education and the Kohanga Reo, Kōhanga Reo movement. Biography Born in Hicks Bay on 21 March 1929, Tāwhiwhirangi or auntie E is of Ngāti ...

, a longtime friend of Paki, recalled that Paki told her of his expected role within the monarchy, "He shared with me that a kaumatua told him, 'Just remember that you must leave all the statements to her.' For a man who had a very strong mind that can't have been easy. Gosh, I know some men who wouldn't have done that for anything. But he did it with panache and he was a tower of strength behind Dame Te Ata." In the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, N ...

, Paki was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for community service. Dame Te Atairangikaahu died in 2006 after 54 years of marriage. Paki's son Tuheitia Paki, succeeded his mother as Māori king. Paki had wanted a tombstone for his wife, but members of the royal family of Tainui, called kāhui ariki, are not permitted to have monuments at their graves. Instead, Paki planted a breed of purple

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s, named specifically for Te Atairangikaahu, around a memorial stone at their home in Waahi Pā. Paki continued to live at his home at Waahi Pā following Te Atairangikaahu's death. He was ill and hospitalized for much of 2011. However, Paki checked himself out of the hospital in August 2011 to attend his son's fifth coronation (''Koroneihana'') anniversary celebrations, and

pōwhiri A pōwhiri (called a pōhiri in eastern dialects, and pronounced in the Taranaki-Whanganui area) is a Māori welcoming ceremony involving speeches, cultural performance, singing and finally the '' hongi''. It is used to both welcome guests onto ...

. Paki died on 22 September 2011, at the age of 85 after a long illness. His funeral was held at his home at Waahi Pā, Huntly, with dignitaries attending from as far away as the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. He was buried on

Mount Taupiri Mount Taupiri is a hill at the southern end of the Taupiri Range in the Waikato. The highest peak in the range, it rises to 288 metres above sea level and overlooks Taupiri township immediately to its south. It is separated from the Hakarimata Ran ...

next to his wife. He was driven to Mount Taupiri in a 1930 Model A Ford, which he had helped restore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paki, Whatumoana 1926 births 2011 deaths People from Huntly, New Zealand Te Aupōuri people Waikato Tainui people Royal consorts New Zealand farmers New Zealand coal miners Companions of the Queen's Service Order