KEY POINTS:
A year after he became king, Tuheitia is a leader who remains an enigma.
His reign proper started on Thursday, the day after his late mother Dame Te Atairangikaahu's memorial day on Wednesday at Waahi Pa in Huntly.
But during the mourning period the 52-year-old has remained off-limits
to the media - a tribal strategy to give him time to grow into his role.
What we know of him comes from close associates such as Dave Thompson from Huntly, a long-time friend.
Both were founding members of Taniwharau kapa haka group, which won the national competition in 1981 and travelled throughout the Pacific Islands and Europe.
Tuheitia was a family man - shy, quiet, conservative, the type who "you'd never catch in a pink shirt. He'd probably much rather be mowing the lawns than anything else," he said.
He worked in the mines and owned his own trucking business before managing Huntly's Te Wananga o Aotearoa campus.
And while Dame Te Ata was revered in Tainui, Tuheitia never capitalised on that, Mr Thompson said. "He never showed his status, he was just one of the people.
"He'll have a few drinks with you. He was never [like] 'my mother is the Queen, I can't enjoy myself'."
And he is a keen "haka man", known to join in impromptu performances.
If Tuheitia looks awkward or reticent, that will pass over time, Mr Thompson said. "I think the key for him is that he has good advisers so he'll feel more confident in his role."
Kawe Nikora grew up with Tuheitia and manages Kimiora in Ngaruawahia, Turangawaewae Marae's dining hall, which will have fed tens of thousands of people over the coronation week.
The operation is so big she keeps in touch with her troops by radio.
Her old friend is tightly protected but he is not an elitist. "He can crack a joke. Tuheitia gets on with everybody, that's going to help him."
Over the past year Tuheitia's duties have included the Poukai rounds - where the Kingitanga reaffirms links with its 66-odd marae.
He has also represented New Zealand at Tongan and Samoan royal family funerals, travelled to Australia for a memorial service for his mother, to Japan to open an exhibition and Canada on a trade mission for Tainui.
He has three children, has been married to wife Te Atawhai for nearly 30 years and, like everyone from Huntly, is a league fanatic.
He is the Maori story every media outlet is chasing. When he addresses the country on the final day of his coronation celebrations on Tuesday, the cloak will be drawn back and we will see a little more of the man.
