Kiingi Tuheitia, the Māori King, has died while recovering from heart surgery just days after celebrating his 18th Koroneihana.
Te Tari o Te Kiingitanga announced he passed away “peacefully”, with his wife Makau Ariki and their children, Whatumoana, Korotangi and Ngawai Hono I Te Po by his side.
We look back on some of the biggest moments of his life. See all our stories on Kiingi Tuheitia here.
The life and times of Kiingi Tuheitia
Kiingi Tuheitia was crowned as the seventh person to head the Kiingitanga following the death of his mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, in August 2006.
Throughout his reign he attended many important events in both Aotearoa and globally. Kiingi Tuheitia spoke publicly at his yearly coronation in Ngāruawāhia.
Annually there is also the poukai, which is where the monarch visits marae around the Tainui region and beyond. The tradition started in the 19th century and was established by the second monarch, King Tāwhiao.
There are 29 poukai each year and the purpose is to assist and help those who are struggling. Their focus are on te pani, te pouaru, and te rawakore (the bereaved, the widowed, and the destitute).
In his time Kiingi Tuheitia received members of other royal families, government officials, foreign diplomats and other international dignitaries.
Notably, in 2014 he received 26 diplomats to discuss international interests and trade for the Kiingitanga.
That year, he received a group from White Ribbon NZ who travelled Aotearoa promoting an anti-violence campaign.
Each monarch has had a Tekau-mā-Rua to offer advice as a senior council and in 2012 King Tuheitia formally established his and added a spiritual council, Te Kāhui Wairua. For the first time the rōpū was made up of members outside the Waikato region.
In 2017 Kiingi Tuheitia signed a formal accord with the Department of Corrections.
The award-winning accord led to the development of the iwi justice panels and further partnership with Corrections to build a reintegration centre for incarcerated women who gave birth to a child in prison.
The King visited mothers and their children and proclaimed his commitment to do more for incarcerated people. In 2018 he launched the iwi justice panel.
The panel aimed to reduce incarceration rates among Māori
In December 2023 he issued a royal proclamation to hold a national hui to promote kotahitanga in response to concerns the coalition government’s policies towards Te Tiriti o Waitangi would reverse hard-fought justice.
The hui was held at Tūrangawaewae Marae in January 2024.
In March 2024 Kiingi Tuheitia, along with the Hinemoana Halo Ocean Initiative and the Kaumaiti Nui Travel Tou Ariki of the Cook Islands, endorsed He Whakaputanga Moana (Declaration for the Ocean). Leaders across the Pacific sought the legal recognition of whales as persons with inherent rights in the Rarotonga signing.
One of his final major engagements was his trip to Paris to join Aotearoa’s Olympics team and support them.