Tekaumaarua chair Che Wilson has confirmed he will be facilitating a wānanga for the rangatira of the motu on Tuesday to decide who will succeed the king - but this must wait for now.
“By Wednesday night the new Arikinui, the new kīngi or kuīni, will be informed and then we will get ready for the processes for the next day.”
For now, the priority is to mourn and grieve the passing of the Māori King.
“It’s our role to uphold our tikanga and to work through the process of grieving, so we can then enter into a wānanga.
“It’s a wānanga for us to work out what are the key components that will help us te iwi Māori going into the future.”
Wilson has been alongside Kiingi Tūheitia and his whānau this entire week, while the king was recovering from surgery.
“You can see things changing the other day, which helps you prepare. But once it happens, you’re still not prepared, you‘re still not ready.
“This last koroneihana felt exactly like his mother’s koroneihana and there was so much more to do.
“His clear message was ‘we can get through the storm’ and it was a storm that signalled his passing - the lightning, the thunder, not just here in Waikato but around the country.”
Many across Aotearoa spoke about Kiingi Tuheitia’s message of kotahitanga but Wilson chooses to remember the king in other words.
“The words I used when he passed, which was simple words, ‘te Kiingi o te kotahitanga’ and I use those words because that’s exactly what he’s been able to achieve and that’s not an easy feat.
“We rely on other people’s translations of the word ‘kotahitanga’ thinking that it’s ‘unity’ but it’s unity of purpose. We don’t need to think the same, we don’t need to act the same, as long as we know where we’re going.
“[The King] was able to achieve that,” Wilson said.