Labour leader Chris Hipkins pays tribute to Kiingi Tūheitia. Video / Mark Mitchell
Tauranga iwi have paid tribute to Māori King Tūheitia, who died this morning, saying he was a “very generous” and affable man committed to all people “collectively”.
Kiingi Tūheitia died aged 69, surrounded by his wife Makau Ariki and their children Whatumoana, Korotangi and Ngawai Hono I Te Po.
”But particularly here in Tauranga, where we have very close ties to the Kīngitanga and have had since the inception of the whole Kīngitanga movement.”
Mikaere said Kiingi Tūheitia had been a “good supporter of initiatives” in Tauranga and had been good at drawing together the Māori perspective on various issues.
His recent “taking to task” of some of the Government’s proposed policies was one example, he said.
Mikaere said Kiingi Tūheitia would be missed for that and for his contribution to the country.
”A kind, very generous, very affable, wonderful man in my few encounters with him, anyway.”
Mikaere said there would probably be arrangements for a big contingent of people from Tauranga to attend the tangi.
Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley. Photo / Alex Cairns
Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley said King Tūheitia’s death was “really sad”.
He was a man who was “committed” to all people “collectively”.
“He was committed to the poor, the imprisoned, the sick … he did a lot of work in the background for that.
“For Ngāi Te Rangi, we mourn the loss of somebody who thinks in that manner.”
Stanley said the iwi would send vehicles on Monday to take kaumātua to pay their respects to the King and to Tainui.
Ngāti Ranginui Iwi chairman Charlie Rahiri said he was “deeply saddened” by the King’s death and had spent time with him only two weeks ago.
He said the iwi’s relationship with Waikato-Tainui pre-dated the establishment of the Kīngitanga.
The Kīngitanga, or Māori King movement, is one of the most enduring Māori institutions that emerged in colonial times and is one of the longest-running political institutions in New Zealand.
Tūheitia was the seventh sovereign since its inception.
”We were part of the establishment and have been loyal to the kaupapa of the Kīngitanga ever since its establishment in 1858,” Rahiri said.
The annual pou kai event at Huria Marae in Tauranga was a “reinforcement of that close bond and relationship”.
”We’re one of the only places outside of Tainui that host that event – the annual pou kai where the King did his pilgrimage around Waikato in the first instance and Tainui, but also to Tauranga.”
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
