Dame Tariana Turia (shown at Parliament in 2014) will be buried on Tuesday, and whānau, friends and colleagues are gathering at Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, to pay their respects. Photo: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
It is a rollercoaster of emotions for the hundreds of mourners gathering to pay tribute to Dame Tariana Turia.
Visitors and dignitaries from around the motu have been welcomed onto Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, as the tangihanga for the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori enters its second day.
Dame Tariana died on Friday, aged 80, after earlier suffering a stroke.
The former Labour Party MP and founder and former co-leader of Te Pāti Māori was a champion of Māori aspirations.
Ahead of her burial on Tuesday, the marae opened to the motu on Sunday, with Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po - the Māori Queen, leading manuhiri (visitors) in a pōwhiri in the morning.
Whānau spokesperson Che Wilson said kaumātua and kuia from tribes throughout the country had arrived to pay their respects to 'Auntie Tari'.
"Having the Māori Queen here, having Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi - the matriarch of the Kohanga Reo - and many others ... all come, has been a very special moment."
He said the speeches and waiata had been stunning.
"The speakers were phenomenal today. They were able to recite history back centuries, back out into the Pacific, through to today.
"And the different things that Auntie Tari left for us, as a reminder of the faith she had in our people."
Wilson said the genius of the speakers' play on words, and ability to bring others to laughter and tears while they expressed gratitude to Dame Tariana, was phenomenal.
He said he was expecting the same again tomorrow.
"The speeches will be slightly different, but the messages, I'm sure, will be the same.
"It was great to hear Manahi Paewai of Rangitāne talk about (Dame Tariana's) work prior to going into Parliament.
"Having those different things shared has been stunning."
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were among those who arrived at Whangaehu yesterday, while Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka was welcomed this morning, and members of the Green Party were expected to arrive later on Sunday.
Che Wilson said Sir Pita Sharples, who co-founded Te Pāti Māori alongside Dame Tariana, was expected to arrive at Whangaehu Monday.
Toitū Te Tiriti organisers said their Te Iwi o te Hīkoi would arrive at the gates tomorrow morning, and have put out the call for others to join them.
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