Tuhoe's burial customs explained

Police and family were seen as "obstacles" to taking James Takamore's body from Christchurch to his Tuhoe homeland of Bay of Plenty for burial.

The evidence was given at a civil hearing in the High Court at Christchurch where Mr Takamore's widow, Denise Clarke, is seeking a court order to have his body returned to Christchurch, where he lived, for burial.

Henare Heremia, a witness giving evidence about the trip and about tikanga Maori involved, said there was no choice and Mr Takamore could not have been buried in Christchurch in 2007.

Michael Starling, counsel for Mr Takamore's Pakeha widow, asked him if a Tuhoe man had no choice where he would be buried, or whether he must return to his birthplace.

Mr Heremia replied: "No."

Mr Starling then asked him: "So James could have been buried in Christchurch?"

Mr Heremia: "Under the customs I have explained, no."

He said it had been the decision of Mr Takamore's mother that the burial would be at the Kutarere Marae, near Opotiki, and the whanau headed south to bring his body back immediately they heard of his death in Christchurch, where he had lived for more than 20 years.

Mr Heremia - who is the partner of Mr Takamore's sister Josephine - explained the customs of his people in court, and his words were translated into English by an interpreter.

When Mr Starling asked him if the whanau had come to Christchurch "to request the body or to take body?" Mr Heremia replied: "To return the body to the homeland."

He said they knew it was not going to be an easy task when they set off "so we went under the protective cloak of our Tuhoe customs".

Mr Starling asked: "You anticipated there may be problems with the police?"

Mr Heremia replied: "Yes. In our experience as Tuhoe persons, and persons from Ruatoki, these sorts of interactions with the police are part of life."

He told the court that one of the party who had responsibility for the trip was entrusted with providing a "protective mantle" over them until the body was brought back to the marae.

"He averted many obstacles before us. The first obstacle was the police, the second was the family of Denise Clarke, and the third was some members of the immediate family of James."

The hearing is heading for a ruling by the court over the standing of tikanga Maori, and whether the customs can overrule a family's wishes about someone's burial.

Evidence has been given that Mr Takamore's departure from the North Island with his partner and first child in 1985 had caused a rift in the family.

A dispute began soon after his death when the family arrived to take his body north, and left overnight in a van, with the casket containing the body for a burial near Opotiki.

The two or three-day hearing is before Justice John Fogarty in a courtroom packed with members of both sides of the family.

- NZPA