Ministers and MPs will depart from their usual Parliamentary proceedings in the House this afternoon to share speeches in honour of the late King Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, who passed away late last month.
The speeches will be live-streamed at the top of this article from 2pm.
The tangi for the seventh Māori monarch at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia was attended by thousands of people. Among them, scores of past and present politicians, including former Prime Ministers Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley, and current PM Christopher Luxon.
Former deputy PM and foreign minister Sir Don McKinnon, former governor-general Dame Silvia Cartwright, current Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka and Matt Bolger, son of former PM Jim Bolger, and former Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell also attended, alongside iwi and Pacific leaders, the King’s former schoolmates from St Stephen’s, and many others.
During his speech at Tūrangawaewae Marae, Luxon expressed his condolences and credited Tūheitia’s ability to bring people together and his focus on kotahitanga (unity), which was a central theme of his recent public addresses.
The Prime Minister said the late King was a leader whose commitment to Māori was felt “right across the country”.
He said he had spoken with the King only a week prior to his passing.
“You talked with optimism and positivity, you laughed, you were kind and you were gracious as always, that is the Kīngi Tūheitia that I will remember. I would not know that that would be our last conversation.”
He said Kīngi Tūheitia built on the legacy of his mother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
Luxon told the crowd Sir John Key sent his thoughts, saying he would always treasure his time with the King.
“He always welcomed me, and was focused on ways we could work together. He will be greatly missed,” Luxon relayed from Key.
“Kīngi Tūheitia was a humble leader, and it was through that personal humility that he held his influence.”
On te rā nehu (burial day), the title of Māori monarch was passed from Kīngi Tūheitia to his daughter, Ngā wai hono i te pō. 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.
Lady Tureiti Moxon said Ngā wai had been groomed to take over from her father and is steeped in the history of the Kīngitanga and the important role it plays in Māoridom.
“She is the right person for the job, to take the mantle of Kīngitanga, and I’m sure she will have the support and love of the people to carry her through.”
The Queen was anointed in a ceremony involving hundreds of people and watched by thousands at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia, as she sat on the throne next to the casket holding her father, which was draped in a korowai.
Crowds also gathered at Taupiri Maunga, where the King was laid to rest. The mountain is a significant site and where many of Kīngi Tūheitia’s ancestors, including his mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, are also buried
The burial procession to Taupiri Maunga included a flotilla of waka, and hundreds of people including revered rangatira, rangatahi, babies and families.
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.
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.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
