Turangawaewae

Turangawaewae Marae is a very significant marae of the Māori people of New Zealand and is the headquarters for the Māori King Movement ("Te Kingitanga"). Located in the town of Ngaruawahia in the Waikato region of the North Island, it is the official residence and reception centre of the head of the "Kingitanga" (until her death on the 15 August 2006, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the sixth Māori monarch). She was succeeded by her eldest son, Tuheitia Paki. The name "Turangawaewae" means "a place to stand" ("turanga" - stand or position; "waewae" - leg or foot).

The marae consists of a complex of buildings on a site of several acres on the banks of the Waikato River. Work on the complex began in 1920 under the leadership of the late Princess Te Puea, an aunt of the recently deceased Māori Queen.

The marae's buildings include the carved Mahinarangi meeting house, built in 1929, and next to it, Turongo House, the Māori King or Queen's official residence, built in 1938. The two houses are named after Mahinarangi, an East Coast "princess", and her husband Turongo, a Tainui chief. The link this marriage formed between the two tribal regions was highlighted by Sir Apirana Ngata when Te Puea was debating a name for the house. Ngata and his tribe, Ngati Porou, had contributed thousands of pounds in funding by supporting performances by Te Puea's concert party when it travelled the East Coast region. In addition he sent expert carvers and weavers to assist with the construction of the building. To commemorate this he asked that the meeting house be named after the East Coast ancestress to salute the ancient link and the modern day koha (gift) Ngati Porou had provided.

The original use of Mahinarangi was to be a hospital of sorts for the Māori people so they could receive treatment in a traditional manner. However the Ministry of Health would not grant the necessary permits for it to be used this way. Thus the building was made into a reception hall of sorts and has hosted many foreign dignitaries. A visiting New Zealand prime minister commented at the conclusion of a visit with King Koroki that the house was a fine sitting room for a King. This comment gave Te Puea an idea: what use is a sitting room if there isn't a house to entertain visiting guests properly?

Thus Turongo house was born. This exquisitely carved home was the brain child of Te Puea. Having noticed a home in Hamilton with a hexagonal tower in the corner she came up with a blueprint that incorporated both Māori and European architectural styles. The house interior and exterior surfaces have been carved extensively and have incorporated many symbols important to the Kingitanga movement. A 7 sided tower in the corner represents the 7 initial waka that, according to tradition, brought the Māori people to their new home of Aotearoa. It also has some unique features such as untreated ponga log cladding on the exterior walls. There are also two pataka (store houses) acting as dormer windows on the roof and storing important taonga (treasures) of the Kingitanga. Each one represents the Māori and European influence on the local people. The modern day house contains magnificent reception rooms, dining rooms and kitchens that are suitable for the Arikinui to host guests in a distinctly Māori fashion.

Some of Te Puea's main goals for the movement were to increase the mana or prestige of the Kingitanga and its figurehead the Arikinui by:

# Raising the standards of health, housing and employment of the people
# Establishing a national marae complex at Ngaruawahia (Turangawaewae Marae) that would be a centre of Māori culture and politics, thus creating a strong sense of community, pride and more importantly, mana amongst the Kingitanga.

Turangawaewae, along with the Kingitanga movement and the office of the Arikinui, has become a key institution to showcase Māoridom not only in New Zealand but the world. Countless world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II and many of her children have paid courtesy visits to Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and the people of the Kingitanga. Under the leadership of Te Puea strong relationships had been established with the Polynesian royal families of the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga. As a result, during the annual Koroneihana (coronation) festivities, representatives of the Polynesian royal houses including the late Queen Salote of Tonga and many of her descendants have made many visits and gifted highly prized taonga to the Arikinui which are now housed in the dual pataka of Turongo.

Turangawaewae Marae and its unique buildings are a physical representation of the determination of the Kingitanga to not only survive the last 200 years of turmoil, but to prosper and flourish under the leadership of monumental leaders like Te Puea and Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.