Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII (born Tūheitia Paki; 21 April 1955 – 30 August 2024), crowned as Kīngi Tūheitia, reigned as the Māori King from 2006 until his death in 2024. He was the eldest son of the previous Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and was announced as her successor and crowned on 21 August 2006, the final day of her tangi.
Tūheitia was patron to Te Matatini, the largest Māori cultural festival, and also of Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton. He signed a formal accord with the Department of Corrections in 2017 that led to the establishment of iwi justice panels, as well as centres for female prisoners to reintegrate into prison life after giving birth. He made numerous state visits and met with other monarchs, including Charles III at the latter's coronation in 2023. Tūheitia also advocated for Māori survivors of climate change in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Among his activities, he involved himself in politics, as does the Kīngitanga as an institution. In January 2024, he held a national hui of Māori unity to respond to the policies of the Sixth National Government towards Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi, which the Kīngitanga believed were regressive and would reverse "decades of hard fought justice."
Tūheitia struggled with poor health throughout his life. In 2024, over a week after his eighteenth koroneihana (coronation anniversary), he died in hospital following cardiac surgery. He was succeeded by his daughter Nga wai hono i te po on the day of his funeral.
Tūheitia was the son of Whatumoana Paki (1926–2011) and Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (1931–2006), who married in 1952. He was educated at Rakaumanga School in Huntly, Southwell School in Hamilton and St Stephen's College (Te Kura o Tipene) in Bombay, south of Auckland, New Zealand. He had five sisters – Heeni Katipa (née Paki); Tomairangi Paki; Mihi ki te ao Paki; Kiki Solomon (née Paki); Manawa Clarkson (née Paki) – and one brother, Maharaia Paki.
He was married to Te Atawhai, who has the title Makau Ariki, and they had three children: Whatumoana, Korotangi, and Nga wai hono i te po. Following his ascent to the throne, Te Atawhai was appointed patron of the Māori Women's Welfare League in 2007 and Te Kohao Health, a Māori public health organisation.
Tūheitia suffered ill health in 2013 and announced that he was establishing Te Kaunihera a te Kiingi (the King's Council) and deputising his elder son Whatumoana to act in his stead. As the King's representative, Whatumoana was given the title Te Whirinaki a te Kīngi, the title held by Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao while he acted for King Mahuta in the early 1900s. Tūheitia later experienced a falling out with Whatumoana after the latter married Rangimarie Tahana in June 2022. In response, the Office of the Kīngitanga publicly denounced Whatumoana and Tahana's wedding and stripped Whatumoana of his royal title.
In 2013, Tūheitia also announced that his second-born son Korotangi would not succeed him as King due to concerns about his readiness. Korotangi was subsequently convicted of drink-driving offending in 2014 and assaulting his girlfriend in 2020. Following Tūheitia's death in late August 2024, his daughter Nga wai hono i te po succeeded him as Māori Queen.
The King generally spoke publicly only once a year, at the annual celebrations in Ngāruawāhia of his coronation.
His official duties included attending the following events:
funeral of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga, September 2006
opening of Pūkawa Marae on the shore of Lake Taupō, 17–19 November 2006
opening of "Mauri Ora", an exhibition of Māori artefacts from Te Papa on exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Japan on 22 January 2007
funeral of Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, 19 May 2007
re-opening of the marae/war memorial hall in Ngaiotonga, Whangaruru, 2007
opening of the Māori garden in Hamilton Gardens, 2008
unveiling of Te Kawerau a Maki's new pou for the Arataki Visitor Centre in the Waitākere Ranges in 2011
haka and speech for the fleet of 110 waka to commemorate 160 years of Kīngitanga in 2018