A senior Tainui kaumatua and member of the Kahui Ariki, the extended Maori royal family, has died.
Tione Haunui, the uncle of King Tuheitia, was 71.
Mr Haunui was the great great grandson of King Taawhiao, the second Maori King.
He served three generations of the Maori monarchy, incluindg King Tuheitia, his mother Dame Te Atairangikaahu and her father King Korokii.
A descendant of Waikato-Ngaati Maniapoto iwi and a senior spokesperon for the King, Mr Haunui will lie in state at Waahi Marae in Huntly.
