Commonly known as Te Ata, the mother of seven who became the Maori Queen at the age of 35 was the seventh Maori sovereign and filled a role that carried only ceremonial powers but commanded great respect among Maori and white New Zealanders.

Maoris have now entered a week of mourning and lavish ceremonies that will culminate with her burial. She was appointed by tribal chiefs to succeed her father who died in 1966. The chiefs will meet to decide her successor shortly before her funeral.

Te Ata leaves two boys and five girls — any of whom could be chosen to succeed her. She hinted in a rare interview, given in March 2003, that one of her sons would replace her. She said then: “My feeling at the moment is that the people are ready for a male heir to take over.”

She was the longest-serving head of the Kingitanga (King) movement — a lineage that began in the mid-1850s to stem the loss of native lands to the flood of settlers arriving in New Zealand from colonial Britain.

The movement was also intended to promote Maori authority within New Zealand and a sense of Maori nationality — though halting land sales remained paramount. Initially, the loose federation of Maori tribes within the King movement had no real political influence and no effective means for co-operative action.

In later years, however, New Zealand’s settlers came to regard the Maori King movement as a barrier to their land-owning aspirations, an affront to the British Queen and a challenge to the New Zealand Government.

The King movement, in turn, served to harden Maori independence and raise its profile to a point that could no longer be tolerated by the British colonisers. Bloody wars between the two broke out in March 1860 but the King movement, though severely weakened, survived attempts to crush it.

Te Ata frequently dined with visiting dignitaries, including the former US and South African Presidents, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela. Queen Elizabeth visited the Maori sovereign’s Marae (meeting house) on her first visit to New Zealand in 1953.

Helen Clark, New Zealand's Prime Minister, paid tribute to Te Ata today, saying she had been a unifying figure in New Zealand who had used her position to bring the Maori and pakeha (non-Maori people) together.

“In times of great change in society, and in Maoridom, Dame Te Ata has displayed continuity and oustanding leadership," Ms Clark said.

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