KEY POINTS:
The Maori King, Tuheitia, will open the new whare kai, or dining room, at Dargaville's Oturei Marae on February 4.
He is then expected to attend the Treaty of Waitangi commemoration at Waitangi on Waitangi Day, February 6.
It will be the King's first visit to Oturei but his mother, the late Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, visited twice during her reign to attend a Maori artists' and writers' conference in 1990 and have a group of debutantes presented to her in 1992.
Oturei Marae committee chairman Rex Nathan said it was pleasing to have the King in attendance.
"Manuera Tohu, a trustee of the Kohanga National Trust, visited last year while the whare kai was under construction. We asked him then if Dame Te Ata, who was a member of the same trust, could attend the opening," Mr Nathan said. "She said she was having dialysis and would be unable to attend but promised a Tainui representative would."
Mr Nathan extended an invitation to anyone interested in attending the ceremony. A wero (challenge) will take place around 11am and the King will then unveil a plaque naming the dining room.
The whare kai has been called Atarangi Te Reo Aroha O Te Whanau. Atarangi Te Tuhi is the name of a respected kuia, wife of a local Maori Methodist minister, and Te Reo Aroha O Te Whanau loosely translates as looking after manuhiri (visitors) by the people of Oturei Marae.
Religious ministers will bless the whare before the King's entry to the building .
It is understood the King will visit the Kumara Box exhibition while in the area.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)
