Waikato University will be celebrating Kīngitanga Day this Wednesday with a host of activities, seminars, and presentations about the Maori King Movement. The University of Waikato has had strong connections with the Kīngitanga and Tainui, since the University’s beginning in the 1960s and it is this distinctive relationship that we now honour each year through Kīngitanga Day.
Celebrations for Kīngitanga Day take place 9am-3.30pm on campus with all activities open to the public. Although classes will be cancelled on the day, students are encouraged to attend and participate in the range of activities.
From 9am a series of presentations and seminars will be held in S Block and the ELT lecture theatre. Presentation and seminar topics include Māori horticulture, women and the Kīngitanga, Māori intellectual property, French missionary encounters, and growing up in the Kīngitanga.
At 10am workshops on poi, weaving and haka will be held for international students at the University’s Te Kohinga Mārama marae (Gate 4).
There will also be a variety of entertainment at the Academy of Performing Arts and the Village Green throughout the day, including live kapa haka performances, the Royal Dunking Tank, and spot prizes and giveaways.
The day’s finale is at 3pm at the Village Green with a toast and the cutting of the ‘Royal Cake’ by Kīngi Tuheitia, who is due to spend the day on campus.
The Māori King Movement, or Kīngitanga, was established more than 150 years ago in response to the rapid loss of Māori land and to promote unity among the tribes of New Zealand. Kīngi Tuheitia was crowned on 21 August 2006 and is the seventh monarch. Kīngitanga remains an important and enduring expression of Māori unity.