Iwi leaders mourn death of Māori King: Kiingi Tuheitia loved kapa haka, advocated for unity

Ngāti Porou iwi leader Sir (Ta) Selwyn Parata and Tairāwhiti iwi have expressed heartfelt sadness at the passing of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII and will attend his tangi next week. 

Kiingi Tuheitia died this 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 Kiingi Tuheitia 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 Kiingi Tuheitia. 

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 Tuheitia. 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. 

“Kiingi Tuheitia 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.” 

Parata said over the past 18 years, Kingi Tuheitia 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 tīpuna/ancestors, who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi, did not cede their sovereignty.” 

Kiingi Tuheitia 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 join 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 Kiingi Tuheitia next week. 

The Tairāwhiti contingent will whakaeke (go on) to Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia on Tuesday.