Sir Tumu Te Heuheu Tūkino VIII (born ) is a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

tribal leader. He is the eighth elected paramount chief of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi in the central

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and an influential figure among Māori people throughout New Zealand.

Biography

Te Heuheu is the chair of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust's

Maori Heritage Council Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

, a patron of the Tukia Group Board, has been the chair of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, has been the chairman of the Tüwharetoa Trust Board and chairman of the Lake Taupō and Lake Rotoaira Forest Trusts, and is a patron of the University of Auckland's Polynesian Society. He is a supporter of the Māori Excellence in Farming Awards. Te Heuheu was born in 1942 or 1943, and attended

St Patrick's College, Silverstream St Patrick's College is a state-integrated Catholic boys' day and boarding secondary school located in Silverstream, Upper Hutt, New Zealand. It was established in 1931 when the original St Patrick's College, Wellington that had been establ ...

. He is the son of Sir Hepi Te Heuheu Tukino VII, the previous elected chief. He is married to Lady Susan Te Heuheu: the couple lives in Taupō.

Honours

In the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; and ...

, Te Heuheu was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to conservation. Following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in 2009, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

References

1940s births Living people Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Ngāti Tūwharetoa people People educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream Te Heuheu family {{Māori-bio-stub