Whatumoana Paki

Whatumoana Paki QSO (1 February 1926 – 22 September 2011) was a New Zealand Māori royal elder. Paki was the husband of the Māori Queen, Te Atairangikaahu, who reigned from 1966 to 2006.^[1][2] He and Te Atairangikaahu were the parents of the seventh Māori monarch, Tūheitia Paki.^[1]

Paki was born in Huntly. His father was Wetere Paki of the Ngāti Whawhakia subtribe of the Waikato tribe.^[3] His mother Frances Paki (née Brown) was from Te Aupōuri,^[3][4] the northernmost Māori iwi, or tribal group, in New Zealand. Paki worked as a farmer and coalminer during his early career.^[1] He became one of the principal maintenance people for Māori marae located along the Waikato River, which includes the Mangatautari marae.^[1]

By the 1950s, Paki began dating Princess Piki Mahuta,^[1] the only daughter of both King Korokī and his wife Te Atairangikaahu Hērangi. The couple married in 1952.^[1] They had seven children - Heeni Wharemaru, Kiri Tokia Ete Tomairangi, Tuheitia, Maharaia, Mihikiteao, Kiki and Te Manawanui.^[1] They lived at Waahi Pā in Huntly, in a home Paki helped to build.^[1][5]

King Korokī died in 1966. Paki's wife succeeded her father as Māori Queen and became known as Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu.^[1] As the consort of the Queen, Paki had to step back from public statements and defer public opinions to her. Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, a longtime friend of Paki, recalled that Paki told her of his expected role within the monarchy, "He shared with me that a kaumatua told him, 'Just remember that you must leave all the statements to her.' For a man who had a very strong mind that can't have been easy. Gosh, I know some men who wouldn't have done that for anything. But he did it with panache and he was a tower of strength behind Dame Te Ata."^[1]

In the 1991 New Year Honours, Paki was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service.^[6]

Dame Te Atairangikaahu died in 2006 after 54 years of marriage. Paki's son Tuheitia Paki, succeeded his mother as Māori king. Paki had wanted a tombstone for his wife, but members of the royal family of Tainui, called kāhui ariki, are not permitted to have monuments at their graves.^[2] Instead, Paki planted a breed of purple roses, named specifically for Te Atairangikaahu, around a memorial stone at their home in Waahi Pā.^[1]

Paki continued to live at his home at Waahi Pā following Te Atairangikaahu's death.^[1] He was ill and hospitalized for much of 2011.^[2] However, Paki checked himself out of the hospital in August 2011 to attend his son's fifth coronation (Koroneihana) anniversary celebrations, and pōwhiri.^[2][7]

Paki died on 22 September 2011, at the age of 85 after a long illness.^[8] His funeral was held at his home at Waahi Pā, Huntly, with dignitaries attending from as far away as the Cook Islands, Hawaii, and Samoa.^[5] He was buried on Mount Taupiri next to his wife.^{[5][9][10][11]} He was driven to Mount Taupiri in a 1930 Model A Ford, which he had helped restore.^[5]