NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga — New Zealand’s Māori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, died Friday at age 69, days after the celebration of his 18th year on the throne.
He was the seventh monarch in the Kiingitanga movement, holding a position created in 1858 to unite New Zealand’s Indigenous Māori tribes in the face of British colonization.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Tuheitia died in hospital after heart surgery, said Rahui Papa, a spokesperson for the Kiingitanga...