As Te Ao Māori mourns the loss of Ariki Tā Tumu Te Heuheu Tūkino VII, it has been confirmed that Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po travelled to Taupō to farewell him.
The Ngāti Tūwharetoa ariki passed away overnight in hospital after a long illness.
One of his final public appearances was at the first anniversary of Te Arikinui’s koroneihana.
Rāhui Papa, spokesperson for the Kiingitanga, says Te Arikinui visited Tā Tumu in his last hours and was moved by his ongoing strength.
“I whakahirahira te ngākau o Te Arikinui i te kite atu i a Tumu, ahakoa mō te wā poto, ahakoa i kitea e pokea ana, e toimaha ana i whakakanohi mai rā ia i te aroha o te whare o Te Heuheu, ki te whare o Te Wherowhero.”
Tā Tumu, who ascended the throne in 1997, witnessed the koroneihana of three monarchs: Te Atairangikaahu, Kiingi Tuheitia, and Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po.
Che Wilson from Ngāti Rangi and a member of the Tekau mā Rua of Te Arikinui says Tā Tumu had long been ill. While it was a sombre occasion, the work accomplished by Tā Tumu will forever be remembered, with the whānau grateful to host Te Arikinui.
“Kua roa a ia e taumaha ana, anā, nō tēra wiki, ka kino te taumaha. Maringa nui i toro atu Te Arikinui ki tana taha, Kuini Nga wai hono i te po ki te tautoko atu i a ia me te whānau i roto i nga rangi, heoi anō, ko tā mātou i tenei wā e tangi atu ana.”
“Ko tā mātou i tenei wā, e tangi atu ana ki a ia mō āna mahi nunui, i te ekenga atu ki runga i te taumata i whakarērea e tōna pāpa, Te Ariki Tā Hepi.”
A long and storied reign
Tā Tumu reigned for almost 30 years and in that time accomplished much, but perhaps his greatest fight involved his most beloved taonga, calling for the return of Tongariro National Park and other taonga to Māori.
He says the tuku of the area to the Crown by his ancestor Horonuku in the 1880s has not been received or treated the way it was intended.
In an exclusive interview with The Hui earlier this year, Tā Tumu says the intention of the tuku was “to bring our people together, to bring the Crown and Māoridom together.”
“But also to ensure that the Tongariro Maunga was well protected. And by doing that, the Crown wasn’t in support at that time in his request. So they declared the National Park over the taonga.”
In 1894, Tongariro National Park was established – the first for Aotearoa, and only the fourth such park in the world.
The Crown then began a process whereby the scale of the original 2,640-hectare tuku became a 25,000-hectare land block vested solely in the Crown.
According to Papa, Tā Tumu has many strings to his bow.
“Ko aua mahi, he tūtohu ki a tātou, ki te ao māori i roto i ngā tini kaupapa, ko te wai Māori tērā, ko te āhuatanga ki te maunga o Tongariro tērā, ko te āhuatanga o te heritage commitee o te United Nations tērā, ka mutu, ko tana kanohi kitea, ko ngana kōrero he tau ki te kōrero, he tau te mārirerire o te kōrero.”
Details for his tangihanga have yet to be announced, but it’s expected that Tā Tumu will be buried in Ngāti Tūwharetoa on Monday.
