KEY POINTS:
Turangawaewae marae in the Waikato was a strange place yesterday for many of the late Maori Queen's loved ones.
In pouring rain, about 2000 Tainui, Maori tribal leaders and family members gathered at the Kingitanga marae at Ngaruawahia to mark the day Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu was installed as leader - May 23, 1966.
Last year, the event was a week-long affair, but yesterday was the final time her Koroneihana would be marked at Turangawaewae. The event now moves to August when the coronation of her eldest son, King Tuheitia, will be commemorated.
Dame Te Ata's friend, Timoti Karetu, reminisced on a friendship which started in the 1970s. He worked with Dame Te Ata to strengthen kohanga reo and alongside kapa haka groups. There was an emptiness about coming back to Turangawaewae and not seeing Dame Te Ata, he said.
People were still mourning her death last August and, in Maori, he said that pain was the price of loving her. "The hurt is still very, very raw. She was the paradigm of warmth. No one else would have drawn together all these people on a day like this."
Tainui kuia Rena Ngataki has organised and worked at Koroneihana for decades. It felt odd not to be working up to a big event in May, and many of Turangawaewae's scores of workers felt the loss more keenly yesterday.
Seeing Tuheitia taking on his mother's mantle was heartwarming, but she wanted to see Tainui provide more formal structures around him.
"He's just like his mother, he's going to be lovely.
"With Te Arikinui, she was guided by the old people. Today, there's not many old people left. I think there has to be a council. The motu [the rest of the tribes] have already spoken and are on that track. Tainui needs to be doing the same."
Two 12-year-olds from Ngati Pikiao, Rawhiti and Te Orohi Paul, helped plant one of the seven trees which represented Dame Te Ata's children. Te Orohi said it was a privilege she wouldn't forget. "It's going to be here forever, it's an honour for Te Arikinui."
