Kiingi Tuheitia will be taken from Tuurangawaewae Marae to the banks of the Waikato River after today's funeral service. Photo: Supplied / Waikato Tainui
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII will be farewelled as the new Māori monarch is ushered in today.
Thousands of mourners have paid their respects at Tuurangawaewae Marae this week.
A special waka will carry the king along Waikato River before his burial at Taupiri Maunga.
"The funeral represents the last moment where Kiingi Tuheitia the person becomes Kiingi Tuheitia the ancestor," Kiingitanga chief of staff Ngira Simmonds said.
"It's a transition from the physical realm to the spiritual realm. It's steeped in tradition that is time immemorial. All of the aspects of the funeral rites come from the teachings of the king's ancestors."
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Simmonds said the day would be not too dissimilar to other Māori funerals, but did have some unique features, like the king being taken to Taupiri Maunga by waka.
"No one else here goes to Taupiri on a waka...The king will be carried on tatahi ora, which was his waka. That was the waka that was commissioned to honour him. It's quite a process. There are some other waka from other tribes of Aotearoa that are coming as well."
"Wakataua have been used by the Kiingitanga for some years now to represent our connection to the river. On this particular occasion it's particularly important because Kiingi Tuheitia was named after a taniwha of the river. Tuheitia is a person, a taniwha and a king."
Simmonds said the the proceedings were open to everyone, though he encouraged people to get there early, as the roads were due to be closed off at 6am.
"All parts of the ceremony are open to all people. So you can gather here at the marae, you can gather along the banks of the river between here and Taupiri and you can gather at the foot of Taupiri."
Today's proceedings will also include the welcoming of the new monarch, starting at "10 o'clock sharp" Simmonds said.
"It's always been a long-held tradition for us that we farewell the previous monarch and welcome the new monarch at the same time.
"The king would often jest that's so no one gets ahead of themselves when there's a gap in the reign, but it's also related to whakapapa because the two are connected and cannot be separated. So as one is farewelled, one is welcomed at the same time because the inextricably linked together.
"The first thing that will happen is the King's Privy Council Tekau-mā-rua will bring the new [monarch] to the gates of Tuurangawaewae Marae. They will surround that person and there they will bring that person onto the marae and that begins the whakawahinga ceremony.
"The first step is the seating on the throne, then the coronation with the bible from the kingmaker, then an anointing representing the Christian element of monarchy and then we move into the funeral rites."
The ceremonial surrounding of the new monarch by the king's council symbolised that the Kiingitanga belonged to all tribes of Aoteaora, Simmonds said.
"Waikato don't participate in the election process, nor do they participate in the bringing forward of the new [monarch]. We receive them on each occasion."