Since the mid-1800's Te Kingitanga has been a force in New Zealand society. The Maori King movement combines spiritual and political elements which conserve the "turangawaewae" (standpoints) of the past with practical leadership in the contemporary Maori world. This collection of 14 biographies of leaders has been put together to celebrate the settlement of the Tainui claim and the royal apology given by Queen Elizabeth to the Tainui people in 1995.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. Or, the story of our Quarrel with the natives of New Zealand.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. Or, the story of our Quarrel with the natives of New Zealand.

This book details the background to the Kingitanga and also tells the story of the first king, Potatau Te Wherowhero. It details all the momentous events of Te Wherowhero's life from around 1775 to his death in 1860, including his status as Lord of the Waikato and the famous battles and conflicts with other tribes, his raising up as the First Maori King, and Mana Motuhake, the Maori Kingship, set apart as the symbol of the spiritual and cultural life of the Maori. Pei Te Hurinui's biography of King Potatau tells this story in a Maori voice employing waiata, poetry and whakapapa as well as prose text in English and English translations so that the book is accessible to both Maori language speakers and those with no knowledge of Maori.