Where did Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu grow up and live?

📍Ngāruawāhia, Waikato, New Zealand

1931 – 2006

“Ko au ko Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. I was born on the 23rd of July 1931 at Ngāruawāhia, the daughter of King Koroki, and I became the Māori Queen — the first woman to hold the position — in 1966, following my father's death. I led the Kīngitanga for forty years, until my own death in 2006. My reign was defined not by war or crisis but by the patient, dignified work of building — building relationships between Māori and Pākehā, building the institutions of the Kīngitanga, building the confidence of a people who had been told for generations that their culture was dying. I opened my arms to all people at Tūrangawaewae. The tangi that followed my death drew the largest gathering of people in New Zealand's history. Ngāruawāhia was my home, the rivers my companions, the mountain always present on the horizon.”

👍 LovedTūrangawaewae Marae — the home of the Kīngitanga and the place where I welcomed all people. The forty years of patient relationship-building between Māori and Pākehā. The Waikato rivers and the Taupiri mountain.

👎 DislikedThe weight of forty years of leadership. The ongoing struggles for Māori land and language rights. The knowledge that so much remained unfinished.

Map showing where Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu lived — Ngāruawāhia, Waikato, New Zealand

🗺️ Approximate location today

Satellite view of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu's home at Ngāruawāhia, Waikato, New Zealand

Sources: King, M. Te Puea (1977), Hodder & Stoughton; Walker, R. Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou (1990), Penguin; Tūrangawaewae Marae archives