“Personally, it is still sinking in.”
Kiingitanga’s chief of staff, Ngira Simmonds, who spoke to media at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Saturday morning about the tragic loss of Kiingi Tuheitia, was feeling the cloak of mourning land.
“I would talk to the king every day but our last conversation I will hold deeply was one of great joy and one of great hope.
“His vision for kotahitanga was one he held firm to the very end,” he said.
Simmonds had a close relationship with the Māori King as he was Kiingi Tuheitia’s adviser.
“Me kotahi tātau i runga i ngā kupu ohāki a tō tātau Kiingi. Me mahara tonu tātau i tū te Kiingi i te rā o Tainui waka, [i] whakaputa i ētahi kupu.
”We must be united in fulfilling the King’s dying wish. We must also remember that the King spoke at ‘te rā o Tainui waka’.
“He rerekētanga tērā - te nuinga o te wā, kotahi te wā ka tū te Ariki mō te Koroneihana, ēngari [i] tēnei tau i tū te Kiingi.
“That was different – most of the time the King will only speak once for Koroneihana but this year he stood to speak.
“He kupu tāna ki a tātau o Waikato, ki a tātau o Tainui waka – mā te kotahitanga ka ea ko te mana motuhake.”
“His message for us of Waikato, of Tainui waka – mana motuhake is fulfilled through unity.”
He recalled a message the late King made in one of his last speeches.
“He didn’t want us to continuously be at war with the government, fighting in his words, ‘fighting is not good for our mokopuna’.
“He was yearning for a lasting peace that was founded on kotahitanga.”
Many current and past politicians are expected to come to mourn him at Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday afternoon.
This includes Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who had been in Tonga for the Pacific Leaders Forum.
The King’s adviser hopes the politicians attending are there to mourn alongside Tainui Waka.
“I hope that they will come to mourn with us too and not think this something that iwi Māori will do.
“This is a loss for our entire nation and indeed the world at large. So they should come and they should share in our grief, they should share in the sadness and the shock of his passing.
“I hope they also come and share in hope for the future, which he so clearly articulated time and time again. There’s a hope in this time that can be a foundation for us.”
This is the second day of the tangihanga period, which is marked for Tainui Waka to grieve the loss of Kiingi Tuheitia.
The rest of the country will pay their respect at Tūrangawaewae from Sunday, the first day of September.
Stay up to date with Kingi Tuheitia’s tangihanga. Watch live coverage daily on Te Ao Māori News Facebook page, alongside broadcasts from Te Karere, Tahu News, Aukaha, Waatea, Te Ao with Moana, Tainui Live, Te Reo o Te Uru, and Whakaata Māori.