Kīngi Tūheitia is taken up Taupiri maunga to his final resting place among his ancestors. Photo / Mike Scott
Kīngi Tūheitia is taken up Taupiri maunga to his final resting place among his ancestors. Photo / Mike Scott
A historic event many of us will probably never witness again in our lifetime happened yesterday when the title of Māori monarch was passed from Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero to his daughter, Nga wai hono i te po.
Kīngi Tūheitia was laid to rest at Taupiri Maunga yesterday afternoon, a significant site for the people of Waikato-Tainui, and where many of Kīngi Tūheitia’s ancestors, including his mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, are buried
Formalities began with the anointing of the new Māori Queen, ushering in a new generation of the Kīngitanga.
It is tradition to farewell a Kīngitanga monarch and welcome a new one in at the same time because, as Kīngitanga chief of staff Ngira Simmonds explained, the two are “inextricably” linked.
The Queen was anointed in a ceremony involving hundreds of people and watched by thousands at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia, as she sat in the throne next to the casket holding her father, which was draped in a korowai.
When the anointment was complete, a procession to the Taupiri Maunga began, including a flotilla of waka, and hundreds of people including revered rangatira, rangatahi, babies and families.
Crowds gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae as the formal tangihanga proceedings come to an end. Photo / Carson Bluck
The Māori Queen travelled from Tūrangawaewae with her father’s casket by waka down the Waikato River to the base of Taupiri Maunga. Photo / Michael Craig
Thousands attended te rā nehu (burial day) for Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Mike Scott
The new queen accompanies her father's coffin down the river. Photo / Mike Scott
Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō arrrives at Taupiri. Photo / Mike Scott
People arriving at Taupiri Maunga for the burial of Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Mike Scott
Rina Ngatai from Pukekohe was all set up on the banks of the Waikato river to watch waka carrying the King’ casket. Photo / Mike Scott
There was also kapa haka, karanga, waerea (spiritual chants), live broadcasts and commentary for those watching from home, a guard of honour from the Army and the Royal NZ Air Force, and many other elements that make a funeral for a Māori monarch unique.
The new Māori Queen travelled from Tūrangawaewae with her father’s casket by waka down the Waikato River to the base of Taupiri Maunga.
The casket was carried to the top of the maunga by pallbearers with emotional scenes reminiscent of the 2006 te rā nehu (burial day) for Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
Kīngi Tūheitia's coffin is lifted off the waka before being taken up the maunga. Photo / Mike Scott
Tūheitia's casket is taken towards the burial place on the maunga. Photo / Mike Scott
Thousands attended te rā nehu (burial day) for the Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Mike Scott
Mourners gather on the urupā at Taupiri Maunga. Photo / Michael Craig
Many mourners had also gathered at the graves of their own whānau within the urupā (burial grounds) to watch the funeral.
When the Kīngi’s casket arrived at the maunga, hundreds of people dressed in black stood in the urupā on the mountain and performed haka as the casket was carried towards them.
It was a beautiful and monumental procession — many have said the size of the Kīngi’s tangi and the number of people who came from near and far to honour him was a testament to the impact he had on people of New Zealand.
There was a sense of unity among the mourners — ordinary members of the public and the ariki’s whānau, Māori and non-Māori, people who knew him directly and those who admired him from afar — all sharing in a sense of pain and grief.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Taupiri to farewell the seventh Māori monarch, Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo / Michael Craig
Mourners on te rā nehu (burial day) for the Kīngi Tūheitia came from all walks of life. Photo / Michael Craig
Mourners gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae to farewell Kīngi Tuheitia. Photo / Carson Bluck
Large crowds gathered on the road outside the marae watched the anointment of new Māori monarch on a large screen. Photo / Mike Scott
Kids ride horses in Taupiri in the hours before the casket carrying the Kīngi was due to arrive. Photo / Michael Craig
Earlier in the day, crowds of people who had gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae, where Kīngi Tūheitia had lain in state since his death last week aged 69, cheered and clapped when it was revealed his youngest child would take over the throne.
”Kuīni Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō!” the crowd chanted.
For many people, te rā nehu, or burial day, has been a mixture of emotions - mamae or pain with the loss of a leader but joy with the news of a new monarch.
Māori warden Harold Falwasser was one of the mourners grappling with that mixture; mamae as Tūheitia was laid to rest, and happiness a new monarch was announced. Falwasser said he was “overjoyed” the King’s daughter was named as the new Queen.
Police, Army and the Royal NZ Air Force were among the many people at the final day of the Kīngi's tangi. Photo / Carson Bluck
A haka roopu prepares for te rā nehu (burial day). Photo / Carson Bluck
Many people said the sheer number of people who attend the pōwhiri for Kīngi Tūheitia's tangihanga is an indication of his impact. Photo / Carson Bluck
Hundreds arrived for the burial ceremony of Kīngi Tūheitia, including CoastxCoast motorcycle club from Huntly. Photo / Mike Scott
Thousands arrived over several days for the tangihanga of Kingi Tuheitia. Photo / Mike Scott
Crowds gathered on the banks of the Waikato River for the tangi. Photo / Mike Scott
Members of the Army were in the crowd on the banks of the Waikato River. Photo / Mike Scott
Who is the new Māori queen?
Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the eighth monarch of the Kīngitanga, was born on January 13, 1997. She is the only daughter and youngest child of Tūheitia and Makau Ariki Atawhai.
Biographical information released by the Kīngitanga yesterday detailed how kapa haka was a passion that had been nurtured within her by her parents and whānau since she was 3.
She has previously performed with several kapa haka groups at the Te Matatini national kapa haka festival.
The eighth Māori monarch was educated at Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga in Huntly and received a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship in 2016 to complete a BA followed by an MA with first class honours at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato (University of Waikato) in 2022.
She has served in several governance roles as representative of the Kīngitanga, including the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust and the Waitangi National Trust.
In 2016, she received her moko kauae to support and acknowledge her father and describes it as her gift to him.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
