[NAEP] New Zealand's Maori queen dies

[Dawn Wiseman]

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the queen of New Zealand's 
indigenous Maori population, died Tuesday, her family announced. She 
was 75.

Te Ata was the seventh Maori sovereign, a direct descendant of a 
royal line that began in 1858 when the Maori responded to Britain's 
colonization of New Zealand by choosing a monarch of their own. The 
role carries only ceremonial powers but is hugely respected by most 
Maori.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/15/maori.death.ap/index.html