KEY POINTS:
The body of 3-year-old Nia Glassie arrived in Tokoroa from Auckland late yesterday afternoon as family and friends gathered for the toddler's funeral.
Relatives at the home of her paternal grandparents, Glassie Glassie snr and Celina Glassie, would not speak to the media before the formalities of the
tangi began.
Nia died on Friday, after nearly two weeks in a coma on a ventilator at the Starship hospital in Auckland.
Police said she had suffered horrific abuse at the hands of her tormentors over a period of up to three months.
Two weeks ago she went in to convulsions and was taken to Rotorua Hospital with severe head and abdominal injuries.
Yesterday, a hearse arrived at the Dalmeny St property in Tokoroa about 4pm and stayed for a short time.
At 4.30pm her body was transferred to St Luke's Community Centre, which is attached to the Pacific Islanders' Presbyterian Church in Maraetai Rd.
At least 50 people, including a smattering of young children, were present for what appeared to be an informal gathering. Flowers were taken in to the church hall as some family members consoled one another outside.
It was not known if Lisa Kuka, Nia's 34-year-old mother, was present, or if members of the Curtis whanau had been invited.
Ms Kuka's partner, 17-year-old Wiremu Curtis, had acted in a stepfather role to Nia in the months before her death.
Curtis has been charged with assaulting the toddler. Curtis' brother Michael Curtis, his partner, Oriwa Kemp, 17, the father of the Curtis brothers, William Curtis, 47, and Ms Kuka's nephew Michael Pearson, 19, have also been charged with assault.
Dr Elana Taipapaki Curtis, Nia's aunt, told Radio New Zealand yesterday that her whanau were working to stop abuse.
"Our whanau feel that at least we can offer some kind of way forward for other whanau.
"It's just awful what has happened but from that awful situation what do you do? Do you hide or do you run? Do you pretend it's not going to happen?
"Or do you stand up and take a stance and say, 'Okay, it's happened within our whanau, what can we do to battle it? What can we do to address it? What can we do to stop it within our whanau? We won't pass this issue on to our mokopuna, you know, the next generation."
Reaching this extreme point was really sad, she said.
"I want to challenge other whanau to start now before they get to this point and start looking within your own whanau because I'm telling you now if you start to look deep ... you'll find stuff there and that's not just Maori whanau, that's Pakeha whanau too, whanau around the world.
"There's still a long journey for the whanau. It's only a few days [since Nia died] and that journey is going to be a long one if we're really going to address this issue within the whanau. We are looking for help, we're looking for those agencies that can provide support for those that may have not yet put their hand up as potential victims of any abuse within our whanau.
"We're committed to a longer-term response and that's going to require quite an effort."
That was important, because the issue was so complex, she said. It was easy to label it as a cultural issue or a Maori issue.
"It's going to be difficult for whanau at times. Some whanau are not going to want to come forward with previous tales of abuse. We have to allow an environment that will allow that to happen. It's all very well to say, 'Yes, the whanau should have taken responsibility'. Cool, we're trying."
