Kīngi Tūheitia and Sir Selwyn Parata both shared a love of kapa haka. Here they both are at last year's Te Matatini festival in Tamaki Makarau Auckland holding the trophy. Photo / Erica Sinclair
Kīngi Tūheitia and Sir Selwyn Parata both shared a love of kapa haka. Here they both are at last year's Te Matatini festival in Tamaki Makarau Auckland holding the trophy. Photo / Erica Sinclair
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Ngāti Porou iwi leader Sir (Ta) Selwyn Parata and Tairāwhiti iwi have expressed heartful sadness at the passing of Kīngi Tūheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII and will attend his tangi next week.
Kīngi Tūheitia died on Friday morning aged 69, surrounded by wife Makau Ariki and children Whatumoana, Korotangi and Ngawai Hono I Te Po.
The Māori King had been in hospital recovering from heart surgery after recently celebrating the 18th anniversary of his coronation.
Parata and other Tairawhiti leaders attended the recent koroneihana, as well as earlier Hui-a-Motu and Kotahitanga hui called for by Kīngi Tūheitia to unite Māori and non-Māori and hold the coalition Government to account.
Parata said Ngāti Porou sent “our aroha and sympathy” to the whānau of Kīngi Tūheitia.
Parata is a supporter and practitioner of Te Kotahitanga and followed in the footsteps of his elders and attended the annual koroneihana celebrations to acknowledge the role of Kīngitanga in being “the needle to weave Māoridom and iwi across the motu together”.
“I was close to Tūheitia. We were both Tipene old boys, enjoyed haka, sports and being together to celebrate the many triumphs of te iwi Māori while working to resolve the challenges that have confronted our people, and today those challenges are coming at us fast and furious.
“Kīngi Tūheitia was the patron of Te Matatini (national kapa haka festival). As a previous performer for Taniwharau, he had a great appreciation and love of kapa haka and I will miss his quiet but enthusiastic presence at the biennial Te Matatini festival.”
Kīngi Tūheitia established his own brand of leadership over his 18 years as the Māori King, Sir Selwyn Parata said. Photo / Erica Sinclair
Parata said over the past 18 years, Kīngi Tūheitia established his own brand of leadership.
“He was quiet, humble and a staunch advocate for Kotahitanga, the unity of te ao Māori, and mana motuhake, the expressed right and authority of iwi and hapū over their taonga, their uri, whenua, moana and reo me ona tikanga.
“Like all iwi across the motu, he was clear that our tipuna/ancestors, who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi did not cede their sovereignty.”
Kīngi Tūheitia also carried on the legacy of his mother, the late Te Ataairangi Kahu, in maintaining the relationships with their tuakana, teina o te Moana-nui-a -Kiwa, Parata said, referring to the relationships between Kīngitanga and Tairāwhiti.
Ngāti Porou and Kīngitanga have a connection through whakapapa. They connect from Porourangi down to Māhina-a-rangi, which was stated in the song composed by Henare Waitoa in 1962.
Māhina-a-rangi married Tainui chief Tūrongo, connecting Ngāti Porou to Tainui.
The Māhina-a-rangi meeting house at Tūrangawaewae marae, Ngāruawāhia, was built in 1929. The name was suggested by Sir Apirana Ngata to Te Puea Herangi, recognising the link between Tainui and Ngāti Porou.
Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou chairman Patrick Tangaere said it was a sad day for Māori.
“It is a loss of another great Māori leader. He called upon te ao Māori at the Hui-a-Motu and reignited the call for kotahitanga. It was good that he did that,” he said.
Tangaere will be joining Parata and a contingent made up of the iwi Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Māhaki and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, and leaders from across Tairāwhiti for the tangi for Kīngi Tūheitia next week.
The Tairāwhiti contingent will whakaeke (go on) to Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia on Tuesday.
Matai O’Connor, Ngāti Porou, has been a journalist for five years and Kaupapa Māori reporter at the Gisborne Herald for two years.
