Kiingitanga rallying to set up aid for Tonga whānau following eruption

Tuesday, 18 January 2022

The two monarchies at annual celebrations.

The Kiingitanga is sharing “deep concern and aroha” for whānau in Tonga following last week's eruption and are rallying to set up aid to help those in need.

The Māori King- Kiingi Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII called for their followers to hold karakia on the night of the eruption to pray for the Tongan people.

Ngira Simmonds chief of staff and private secretary to the Māori King said the Tongan and Māori communities have a very close relationship.

This was established through a bond between the Māori and Tongan monarchies who were the leading royal houses among the nations of the pacific, he said.

Kilifi Havea, who lives in Christchurch describes how his relatives have struggled to get clean drinking water since Saturday's volcanic eruption in Tonga.

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King Tupou and Kiingi Tuheitia at annual celebrations.

“The connection is through the two royal houses and began many generations ago.

“It was particularly strengthened in the time of princess Te Puea Herangi and Queen Te Atairangikaahu and now of course in the time of King Tuheitia.

“There is a very strong reciprocal relationship where the King, before the pandemic, would travel to Tonga every year for their King’s birthday…equally their King and Queen would return every year to Aotearoa for Koroneihana” he said.

The day after the eruption, the Kiingitanga hosted an online karakia-a-motu event to encourage more people to come together and pray.

Members of the Kiingitanga have been anxiously awaiting word from those in Tonga who they haven’t been able to reach due to the islands’ main communication cable being destroyed in the aftermath of the eruption.

Ngira said in the meantime the rōpū wants to set up ship containers packed with essential supplies, in particular clean water.

They will then look to send those across to Tonga Tapu when conditions are safe.

“Of course Māori and Tongan people have a similar response, our first reaction was to call the iwi and people of the Kiingitanga to karakia.

“We’re now looking to co-ordinate other ways in which we can support, through our iwi networks and all the iwi across the Kiingitanga.

“We’re standing up containers, one in South Auckland, one in Waikato, one further south in the Tainui rohe, and potentially one across in Mataatua” Simmonds said.

The Kiingitanga also hopes to set up an online fundraising campaign where they can raise pūtea to send across to those affected.

For now, Simmonds said, whānau are awaiting further news from relatives in Tonga.

“It’s a really tough time, you know you see the pictures online, you see the videos and then there’s just nothing, just stark silence.

“We’ve had some messages come via government channels, but we are still waiting for some of the more personal whānau to whānau connections.

“Our experience of people in the Tongan community is that they’re strong in faith and strong on hope … in times gone past when New Zealand has needed help the Tongan community have been there, so now it’s our turn to reciprocate” he said.