Close family members have travelled to Tolaga Bay from Masterton for the tangi of Labour MP Parekura Horomia, who was a staunch supporter of Wairarapa Maori.
Mr Horomia, 62, died at his family home at Mangatuna in Tolaga Bay on Monday. It is understood he had been convalescing from an unspecified illness. He had struggled with his weight and previously revealed he was a chronic asthmatic and had an enlarged heart.
His sister Lindsey Matete and niece Mereana Lopa live in Masterton and had travelled with a family group to Tolaga Bay, where a tangi for Mr Horomia is to be held at Hauiti Marae.
Mr Horomia was elected in 1999 as MP for Ikaroa Rawhiti, a New Zealand Parliamentary Maori electorate that includes Wairarapa, and was Minister of Maori Affairs from 2002 to 2008.
Jason Kerehi, Rangitane o Wairarapa chief executive, said Mr Horomia had been a staunch and "very accessible" supporter of Maori in Wairarapa.