'Daughter should succeed me' - Queen

The Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu expressed a preference for a daughter to succeed her, and posed the question of whether it was the right time for another king, according to Tainui sources.

Yesterday, as thousands of people continued to pass through the gates of Turangawaewae Marae to mourn and pay tribute to the late Maori queen, in the back room a small group of tribal leaders continued to debate her successor.

The choice will be named, and the new Arikinui crowned, before Dame Te Ata is buried beside her ancestors high on Taupiri Mountain on Monday.

One suggestion, by Sonny Tau, the chairman of the Ngapuhi Runanga, that the net be cast wider led to some comment, mainly negative, in the speechmaking up front.

At the back of the gathering, the choice was where it was from the start - between Dame Te Ata's elder son, Tuheitia Paki, and her eldest child, daughter Heeni Katipa.

The debate echoes that of 40 years ago when princess Piki, then a 35-year-old farmer's wife, was chosen over her male relatives to succeed her father, King Koroki.

Then, as now, the critical factor ruling out other contenders is the direct descent from the first Maori king, Potatau Te Wherowhero, a bloodline which brings with it connections to other major tribes.

Tainui sources say that at a meeting six weeks ago, Dame Te Ata expressed her preference for her daughter to succeed her, and asked whether it was the right time for another king.

Some of the tribes, particularly Te Arawa, are believed to be keen for the role to revert to a male heir.

The choice will affect the path the Kingitanga movement takes in the years ahead.

One of the reasons Dame Te Ata was able to reach out widely to the rest of Maoridom was because of the support she had from groups she was an active patron in, such as the Maori Women's Welfare League and Kohanga reo.

Expectations of a king may be that he take a more upfront role - something for which Tuheitia has not been prepared.

However, veteran broadcaster Waihoroi Shortland, who has been coming to Turangawaewae since the 1950s, said the new ariki [paramount chief] is unlikely to assume a major role immediately. "I don't think we are going to see the miracle a lot of people are expecting," Shortland said.

"I think you are going to see a leader elected, but you are not going to find the expectations that people have, that immediately this person will have an aura and a glow and a walking magnificence that in any way might equate to the Arikinui. But what we will have is someone who is invested with hope. We will see someone who is prepared to spend an inordinate amount of time doing what I think Te Arikinui did, which was serve her apprenticeship learning how to master the best resources she had, and she had the best there was."

Shortland says Dame Te Atairangikaahu will be remembered as the very best of her line.

"That is a reflection of the people who carried her through her 40 years. As I knew her and I observed her, she was 40 years the leader, 30 years of that the silent listener."

He said a lot of her most effective work came in her last 10 or 15 years.

Shortland said he did not believe it would make a difference if the new Arikinui is male or female.

"I believe she has left us with the best of choices, and Maoridom must believe that whatever decision is made, they will get the best. Because it was never abut who was in front, it was always about who was behind," he said.

Former Mana Motuhake leader Sandra Lee said Kingitanga and Dame Te Ata provided stability for Maori during times of huge change over the past two decades, and offered an example that change for its own sake was not necessary.

She said Dame Te Ata was a sophisticated diplomat, as the outgoing governor general, Dame Silvia Cartwright, acknowledged this week.

"The queen took our people through a number of decades where diplomacy was critical, and she proved herself a very good diplomat. Those skills will be required in the new leadership as well," Lee said.

Numbers yesterday were down on Friday, when more than 10,000 people gathered, but there were still long waits to get on to the marae.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and his Ngati Wai tribe and a large Ngai Tahu group from the South Island were outside most of the day. Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon said the tangi had been an amazing display of mana, as the tribes gathered in unprecedented force to show their respect for Dame Te Ata.

Her Pacific links were also acknowledged, with Tongan Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita leaving the bedside of her ailing father, the King of Tonga, to attend.

One of the iwi which arrived yesterday was Te Aupouri from the Far North, the tribe Dame Te Ata married into through her husband, Whatumoana Paki.

Te Aupouri has been assigned the task of digging the grave on Taupiri. Tomorrow at 8.30am the succession ceremony will start, led by Aneru Tamehana of Ngati Haua, the direct descendant of the man who named Potatau as king in 1858.