New Zealand's Maori chiefs have anointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch.
The election of Nga Wai hono i te po Paki was welcomed as a symbol of change for the indigenous community.
She is the youngest and only daughter of King Tuheitia, who died last week.
After being selected by a council of chiefs, Nga Wai was led to the throne by a group of men carrying ceremonial weapons and singing, shouting and yelling in acclamation.
“The new monarch was elevated in a ceremony known as Te Whakawahinga, in front of thousands of people gathered for the tangihanga. [funeral and burial] of Kiingi Tuheitia,” said a spokesman for the Kiingitanga, or royal family.
Maori cultural adviser Karaitiana Taiuru told AFP it was a “privilege” to witness a young Maori girl become queen.
“The Maori world has been yearning for younger leadership to guide us through the new world of AI, genetic modification, global warming and in a time of many other societal changes that challenge and threaten us and the indigenous people of New Zealand,” he said.
“These challenges require a new, younger generation to lead us.”
The new monarch was elected before the funeral of King Tuheitia, whose body has lain in state for six days.
Wearing a headdress of leaves, a cape and a necklace of whale bones, Nga Wai sat beside her father's coffin as rituals, prayers and chants were performed.
He was then taken along the river to Mount Taupiri in a flotilla of four waka, or war canoes. A group of rugby players carried the coffin to the summit for the king's burial alongside previous Maori monarchs, including his mother.
New Zealand's Maori make up about 17 percent of the population, or about 900,000 people.
Māori citizens are much more likely than other New Zealanders to be unemployed, live in poverty, or suffer from cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and suicide.
The life expectancy of Maori is seven years lower than that of other New Zealanders.
The Kiingitanga, or Maori King movement, was founded in 1858 with the aim of uniting New Zealand's tribes under one sovereign in the face of British colonisation.
The Maori monarch has a largely ceremonial role with no legal status, but has enormous cultural significance as a symbol of Maori identity and kinship.
Queen Nga Wai is the eighth Māori monarch and second queen.
Her grandmother, Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, held the office for four decades until 2006.
The new queen studied at New Zealand's Waikato University and has a master's degree in Maori Tikanga (social knowledge).
To mark the 10th anniversary of the king's coronation in 2016, he had a traditional Maori “moko” tattoo made on his chin.
