Portal:New Zealand/Selected article/Week 42, 2006
Turangawaewae Marae is a very significant marae of the Māori people of New Zealand and is the headquarters for the Māori King Movement (Te Kingitanga). Located in the town of Ngaruawahia in the Waikato region of the North Island, it is the official residence and reception centre of the head of the Kingitanga, currently Tuheitia Paki, and previously his mother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. The name Turangawaewae means a place to stand.
The marae consists of a complex of buildings on a site of several acres on the banks of the Waikato River. Work on the complex began in 1920 under the leadership of the late Princess Te Puea, an aunt of the recently deceased Māori Queen.
Turangawaewae, along with the Kingitanga movement and the office of the Arikinui, has become a key institution to showcase Māoridom not only in New Zealand but the world. Countless world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II and many of her children have paid courtesy visits to Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and the people of the Kingitanga.