Maori King's title questioned

Outspoken Ngapuhi activist David Rankin is on the attack again, this time challenging the right of Tainui leader Tuheitia Paki to use the title "Maori King".
Mr Rankin said in a claim submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal that as long as Government Ministers and Crown agencies continued to refer to Mr Paki as the "Maori King" they were violating Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi, which promised the Crown would protect each tribe's sovereignty.
"How can the sovereignty of Ngapuhi be protected if the leader of another tribe is said to be our king?" he asked. "This is clearly a violation of our tino rangatiratanga."
Mr Rankin, a member of the Matarahurahu hapu of Ngapuhi, ended his former job as head of the plumbing and gasfitting department at Unitec in Auckland 18 months ago. He now works in the city housing rental market.
He has often been in the news, most recently over complaints that a Human Rights Commission staff member was abusing him, the moving his ancestor Hone Heke's bones and Australian assistance for the Christchurch earthquake.
Mr Rankin said yesterday his aim was to create debate which would awaken Maori to matters requiring discussion before people could make progress.
But while he has been quick to speak out on issues which concern him, some others have not been so enthusiastic about the causes he champions.
Northland Labour list MP Shane Jones said Ngapuhi had not been involved in the formation of the Maori King or Kingitanga movement that arose in the 1850s to halt the alienation of Maori land.
"If Ngapuhi decided to create an aristocratic court, Mr Rankin would be perfect for the role of court jester," Mr Jones said.
"The Waitangi Tribunal has more important business to consider than the pleadings of a clown."
The current Maori King's grandmother was a Te Aupouri from Te Kao, Mr Jones said.
Treaty of Waitangi historian Paul Moon yesterday described Mr Rankin's Treaty claim against the Maori King as "trivial and ultimately pointless".
"The existence of the King movement does nothing to lessen the sovereignty of any other iwi. On the contrary, at several times in history, the King movement has been a bastion of Maori sovereignty that some other iwi have looked to for encouragement," Professor Moon said.
However, Mr Rankin said any Northland Maori asked whether Tuheitia was king of Maori would say he was was just King of Waikato.
"He hasn't even got the reo [Maori language]. He is someone who pretends to be the king of Maori, which we find offensive."
Mr Rankin said that Tuheitia needed to show his mandate for royalty or else change his title.
"And as far as the Government is concerned, they have no right to use the term 'Maori King'. Tuheitia could be called the 'King of Huntly' perhaps. I could live with that," he said.