The two Kiwi kids who met the Queen in Waitangi, 1990. Photo / NZME
The two Kiwi kids who met the Queen in Waitangi, 1990. Photo / NZME
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Wāhine Māori mother of three, wife, artist, and lover of music Lee Te Aroha Morunga (Ngāpuhi, Ngātiwai) reflects on Queen Elizabeth II's passing and her fateful meeting with her 32 years ago, on the Treaty of Waitangi's 150th anniversary.
Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96, passed away last Thursday at her summer home in Scotland after a 70-year reign.
"Man... gutted. I'm really gutted. I feel like her reign is quite similar to Te Atairangikaahu, who had a really long reign on the Kīngitanga, and so [did] this Queen. And I just feel like women in power is so empowering to see," says Morunga.
On 6 February 1990, Morunga, aged 10 at the time, was tasked by her whānau to walk up alongside Anna Hedge, then seven, and present the Queen with a bouquet on the Treaty grounds.
Morunga had been selected because of her whakapapa connecting to Te Tirarau Kūpaka, while Hedge descended from James Busby.
"When we approached the Queen to shake her hand she still had her glove on so we never actually touched her. Her hands were tiny! I think they were as small as mine, and I was ten!" Morunga laughs fondly.
Lee Te Aroha Morunga. Photo / Supplied
Morunga's uncle, the esteemed Sir Hector Busby, founder of Te Aurere and a renowned Māori navigator and traditional waka builder, was responsible for hosting Waitangi Day alongside celebrations on the Treaty grounds, with his wife Hilda.
Sir Hector had reached out to Morunga's grandmother, a fellow Busby, who spoke to Morunga's grandfather, a renowned minister in Te Tai Tokerau. They then spoke to Morunga's parents - her mother then rehearsed with her for five weeks.
"I was 10, and I didn't understand the magnitude of what I was responsible for until most recently. In the last two years, I've really felt like, 'Oh wow, that was really important'," says Morunga.
The 150th anniversary was also a year of protests for sovereignty in Aotearoa, especially Māori sovereignty.
"I remember the protesting at the time was still very heavy, so she was met with pretty forceful protestors. But I felt like she was very regal - she maintained her mana and she knew what her kaupapa was, and she knew that she was there for the official business-end. Despite all the stuff thrown at her, she was still focused, which was really interesting to see," says Morunga.
Morunga also reflected on the obstacles of the Queen's reign as a wāhine in a patriarchal world.
"I'm sure she's had men come to her, to overpower or undermine her, from power-tripping, and I imagine she put them in their place. That's what it looked like at that time - when people came around her, she'd command 'Yes' or 'No', or 'You go over there'. I like that order about her; mana," says Morunga.
