{{Short description|New Zealand Māori royal elder}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2026}}
{{Distinguish|text=his grandson, [[Whatumoana Paki (born 1988 or 1989)]]}}
'''Whatumoana Paki''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|QSO}} (1 February 1926 – 22 September 2011) was a [[New Zealand]] [[Māori people|Māori]] royal elder. Paki was the husband of the Māori Queen, [[Te Atairangikaahu]], who reigned from 1966 to 2006.<ref name="nzherald">{{cite news|first=Yvonne|last=Tahana|title=Obituary: Whatumoana Paki |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10753977 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=2011-09-24 |access-date=2011-10-16}}</ref><ref name="nzherald2">{{cite news |first=Yvonne|last=Tahana|title=Maori King's father dies |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10753533 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=2011-09-22 |access-date=2011-10-21}}</ref> He and Te Atairangikaahu were the parents of the seventh [[Māori King Movement|Māori monarch]], [[Tūheitia Paki]].<ref name="nzherald" />
==Biography== Paki was born in [[Huntly, New Zealand|Huntly]]. His father was Wetere Paki of the Ngāti Whawhakia subtribe of the [[Waikato (iwi)|Waikato tribe]].<ref name=haere>{{cite journal |date=August 1957 |title=Mrs Francis Paki (sic) |journal=Te Ao Hou |issue=19 |url= http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao19TeA/c2.html |access-date=13 May 2012}}</ref> His mother Frances Paki (née Brown) was from [[Te Aupōuri]],<ref name=haere/><ref name=TeKao>{{cite journal |date=July 1956 |title=News in brief |journal=Te Ao Hou |issue=15 |url= http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao15TeA/c15.html |access-date=13 May 2012}}</ref> the northernmost Māori [[iwi]], or tribal group, in New Zealand. Paki worked as a farmer and [[coalminer]] during his early career.<ref name=nzherald/> He became one of the principal maintenance people for Māori [[marae]] located along the [[Waikato River]], which includes the [[Mangatautari marae]].<ref name=nzherald/>
By the 1950s, Paki began dating Princess [[Piki Mahuta]],<ref name=nzherald/> the only daughter of both [[King Korokī]] and his wife Te Atairangikaahu Hērangi. The couple married in 1952.<ref name=nzherald/> They had seven children - Heeni Wharemaru, Kiri Tokia Ete Tomairangi, Tuheitia, Maharaia, Mihikiteao, Kiki and Te Manawanui.<ref name=nzherald/> They lived at Waahi Pā in Huntly, in a home Paki helped to build.<ref name=nzherald/><ref name=nzherald3/>
King Korokī died in 1966. Paki's wife succeeded her father as Māori Queen and became known as [[Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu]].<ref name=nzherald/> 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."<ref name=nzherald/>
In 1990, Paki received the [[New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |author-link1=Alister Taylor |author-link2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=291}}</ref> and in the [[1991 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|1991 New Year Honours]] he was appointed a [[Queen's Service Order|Companion of the Queen's Service Order]] for community service.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52383 |date=31 December 1990 |page=30 |supp=2}}</ref>
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.<ref name=nzherald2/> Instead, Paki planted a breed of purple [[rose]]s, named specifically for Te Atairangikaahu, around a memorial stone at their home in Waahi Pā.<ref name=nzherald/>
Paki continued to live at his home at Waahi Pā following Te Atairangikaahu's death.<ref name=nzherald/> He was ill and hospitalized for much of 2011.<ref name=nzherald2/> However, Paki checked himself out of the hospital in August 2011 to attend his son's fifth coronation (''Koroneihana'') anniversary celebrations, and [[pōwhiri]].<ref name=nzherald2/><ref name=rnz1>{{cite news|title=This year marks the fifth anniversary of the coronation of the Maori King Tuheitia |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/82720/fifth-coronation-anniversary-for-maori-king |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=2011-08-17 |access-date=2011-10-21}}</ref>
Paki died on 22 September 2011, at the age of 85 after a long illness.<ref name=rnz>{{cite news|title=The father of Kingi Tuheitia, Whatumoana Paki, has died at the age of 85 after battling a long illness |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/85863/father-of-maori-king-dies |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=2011-09-22 |access-date=2011-10-16}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=nzherald3/> He was buried on [[Mount Taupiri]] next to his wife.<ref name=nzherald3>{{cite news|first=James|last=Ihaka|title=Royal patriarch is laid to rest beside his Queen |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10754635 |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=2011-09-27 |access-date=2011-10-21}}</ref><ref name=wt>{{cite news|first=Karla|last=Akuhata|title=Revered Kingitanga elder reunited with Dame Te Ata, Whatumoana Paki laid to rest |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/5690538/Revered-Kingitanga-elder-reunited-with-Dame-Te-Ata/ |work=[[Waikato Times]] |date=2011-09-26 |access-date=2011-10-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1109/S00699/hamilton-marks-the-passing-of-whatumoana-paki-snr.htm |title=Hamilton marks the passing of Whatumoana Paki Snr |work=scoop.co.nz |year=2011 |access-date=19 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1109/S00448/mana-party-pays-respects-to-whatumoana-paki.htm |title=Mana Party Pays Respects To Whatumoana Paki |work=scoop.co.nz |year=2011 |access-date=19 October 2011}}</ref> He was driven to Mount Taupiri in a [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|1930 Model A Ford]], which he had helped restore.<ref name=nzherald3/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paki, Whatumoana}} [[Category:1926 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:People from Huntly, New Zealand]] [[Category:Te Aupōuri people]] [[Category:Waikato Tainui people]] [[Category:Royal consorts]] [[Category:20th-century New Zealand farmers]] [[Category:New Zealand Māori farmers]] [[Category:New Zealand coal miners]] [[Category:Companions of the Queen's Service Order]]