New Zealand's Maori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, has sadly passed away at the age of 69 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. He was the seventh monarch in the Kiingitanga movement, a position established in 1858 to unite New Zealand's Indigenous Maori tribes in the face of British colonization.
Tuheitia passed away in a hospital after undergoing heart surgery, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the Kiingitanga movement. The movement aimed to halt the sale of land to non-Indigenous individuals, prevent inter-tribal conflicts, and serve as a platform for the preservation of Maori culture.
