As mourners gathered from around the motu at Tūrangawaewae Marae to pay their respects to Kiingi Tuheitia, Te Pāti Māori’s Meka Whaitiri recalled the tangihanga of the late Māori Queen.
“I mean, I was actually here at the tangihanga of his mum, Te Atairangikaahu, those many years ago.” she recalled.
At the time of the death of the Māori queen, Whaitiri was working for then Māori affairs minister Parekura Horomia.
“I remember working in his office and getting the news and it was a Tuesday, that’s how ingrained it is in my memory that she had passed, [and] by that afternoon Parekura and I were here in Māhinārangi to awhi and tautoko all the Kiingitanga with the passing of a great queen.
“I stayed by his [Horomia] side for six days. We had an army to organise, to awhi the whānau here, we had the council to organise to clear the landing for when we took Te Ata on the river, cleared the pathway, cut trees for six days.
“All those memories of being here for her tangi and now coming to Kiingi Tuheitia’s. it’s a kind of a complete [circle moment],” she said.
She believes the Māori king had followed in his mother’s footsteps during his reign.
“His message of being Māori at the last gathering at the koroneihana of kotahitanga and those are massive kaupapa that he’s left us.
“He followed in the footsteps of his mum who always found strength in unity and amongst our Māori people. But also to all people who call this place home that was his legacy.
“So that message of unity, of aroha, or respect goes to everybody in Aotearoa and so that’s gonna be his legacy and it’s up to us to fulfil it.”
The late Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the longest reigning Māori monarch. She was the Māori Queen for 40 years before dying on August 15, 2006, at 75.