The Māori King, Tūheitia will be laid to rest alongside his mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and previous Māori Kings on the sacred Taupiri Mountain in Waikato.
Kiingi Tūheitia’s body has arrived at Turangawaewae marae, where pōwhiri from the Tainui-Waka confederation will welcome guests.
Representatives from across the Waikato region will make their way to the marae over the next two days. There will be two pōwhiri a day, one at 8am and one at 2pm for the next six days.
Kīngitanga chief of staff Ngira Simmonds told Morning Report Tainui will be looking after the Kīngitanga over the next couple of days.
The iwi will gather, followed by the rest of te ao Māori and the rest of the nation who plan to pay their respects, at Tūrangawaewae Marae.
A day will be set aside for international dignitaries.
The new monarch will be crowned on the final day of the tangi. “It’s an elective monarchy so we don’t know who that will be. The Tekau Mā Rua, which was the King’s privy council, will convene and lead that process in the coming days,” Simmonds said.
He said the monarchy will look to preserve unity and kotahitanga (solidarity) with its next successor.
“The Kīngitanga was not a conquering monarchy. The King’s tribe, Waikato, didn’t conquer other tribes of Māoridom in pursuit of the kingship, it was a request from the other tribes and that tradition continues to this very day.”
The leaders of the different iwi across the motu will decide who the next successor will be from the monarch’s whānau.
Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber told Morning Report that the next person who takes over will have to maintain a calm and diplomatic demeanour.
“There will be some discussions towards the end of the week, I guess, about the successor and those will be very important discussions for not just Tainui-Waikato but for the rest of the motu. The Kīngitanga movement is a motu movement... with the loss of King Tūheitia, his successor will have to hit the ground running,” Barber said.
He said kotahitanga and unity need to continue from the Kīngitanga.
Parliament
Parliament is in the process of working through how it will represent itself at the Kīngitanga’s tangi.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he hoped there was unity amongst the different parties.
“We as Parliament have to make up our mind how we’re going to represent ourselves, there will be individual party decisions but I hope collectively we work out the day we will attend the tangi and what we can do going forward. That will of course depend upon the wishes of Tainui in particular, it’s a bit premature to be saying what we should be doing when it’s a matter of serious consultation now,” he said.
Shane Jones (left) and Winston Peters (centre) join in marking a minute of silence for the Māori King, Tūheitia, in Auckland. Photo / RNZ
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka told Morning Report this will be a tangihanga of incredible significance.
“Undoubtedly there will be various attendances but the details of both the tangihanga and also the Crown’s tautoko [support] for that tangihanga [funeral] are yet to be finalised. I think from myself and the Prime Minister’s office and the kōrero that will go on as to how we best support it,” he said.
Potaka is awaiting guidance from the Prime Minister to support the Government as effectively as he can.
All government and public buildings will fly the New Zealand flag at half-mast with immediate effect, until further notice, to mark the death of Kīngi Tūheitia.
The half-masting notice made by Minister Paul Goldsmith applies to all government departments, buildings, and naval vessels that have flag poles and would normally fly the New Zealand flag.
Flags at half-mast in front of Parliament. Photo / RNZ
Māori Queen’s death – six-day tangi
More than 430,000 people watched coverage of the tangi at Tūrangawaewae Marae when Tūheitia’s mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, died in 2006.
Her body lay in state at the marae for five days after she died peacefully at her home, aged 75.
The sixth Māori monarch was the longest serving. Her funeral attracted more than 130,000 people, shortly after celebrating her 40th jubilee as Queen.
Tens of thousands of people watched as her body was taken by a flotilla of waka down the Waikato River and her casket was carried up Taupiri Mountain for burial.
The past six monarchs were selected by leaders from other iwi. The coronation for Kīngi Tūheitia took place immediately before Dame Te Ata’s burial.
State Highway 1 was closed and car parking was made available on Tainui land at Hopuhopu, along with buses to cater for thousands of people who wished to pay their respects.
There were also political kōrero, including from Tainui’s executive chair, Tukoroirangi (Tuku) Morgan, who called on the Government to complete the long-running Waikato River claims.
Morgan said bringing closure to the settlement was what Dame Te Atairangikaahu would have wanted.
Her tangihanga lasted six days and was the largest ever held at Taupiri Mountain.
Speaking to Morning Report today, Mihingarangi Forbes said there wasn’t a single space where you could move in Ngāruawāhia for that tangi.
“There was a flotilla of waka around her. It was a beautiful day. And she... her tūpāpaku [corpse]... glided down the river to Taupiri maunga [mountain], and at the bottom... there were thousands of people who carried her up the maunga and I imagine that would be similar to what would happen with this tangi,” Forbes said.
