About this research
The rise in cross-cultural marriages between Māori and other cultural groups in Aotearoa New Zealand has raised the issue of who decides where a deceased Māori person is to be buried, after they die, when his or her partner is not Māori. There are several reported recent cases where whānau Māori have intervened to take a person back home for burial, often against the wishes of the surviving spouse and children.
Within Māori society, disputes about burial are part of the tikanga relating to burial and are resolved by whānau engaging with each other using the normative procedures of the community. However, when the surviving spouse is a Pākehā, problems can arise because English-based New Zealand law provides a preferential status that enables them to exclude the community and lay claim to the body. The potential for conflict between the two is likely to escalate as more and more cross-cultural marriages occur.
This research examined important Māori protocols, practices and principles relating to death and burial; how English-based New Zealand laws regulate death and burial; tikanga Māori processes compared with English-based New Zealand legal processes; and provided suggestions as to how any conflicts between the two can be resolved as part of a process that can be recognised under both tikanga and New Zealand law.
Outputs
Tomas, V.C., “Ownership of Tupapaku” in New Zealand Law Journal, 2008, 233-236.
Tomas, V.C., “Who Decides Where a Deceased Person will be buried”, in Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence, 2010, 81-99.
Tomas, V.C., “The Takamore Decision: Who Has the Right to Say where someone is buried?” Public Lecture, Faculty of Law, Waikato University, 9 October 2009.
Tomas, V.C., “Progressive Findings of Nga Tikanga Mate Project”, 4th International Indigenous Conference, Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, University of Auckland, 6-9 June 2010.
Meredith, P., Kapa, L., & Tomas, V.C., “Findings of the Nga Tikanga Mate Project”, Justice in the Round conference, Faculty of Law, Waikato University, 19 April 2011.
Meredith, P., Kapa, L., & Tomas, V.C., “Findings of the Nga Tikanga Mate Project”, Manu Ao Seminar series, University of Auckland, 10 August 2011.
Ētahi atu · Other projects
Chanel Phillips (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), University of Otago There is very little published research that examines why Māori have high rates of drowning despite a cultural connection to water, and fewer literature that examines water safety specifically from a Māori perspective. The significance of this work is in addressing this gap in the literature and…
View projectMāori water safety and health
Chanel Phillips (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), University of Otago
There is very little published research that examines why Māori have high rates of drowning despite a cultural connection to water, and fewer literature that examines water safety specifically from a Māori perspective. The significance of this work is in addressing this gap in the literature and providing an explicit kaupapa Māori approach to water safety.
Nikki Barrett (Ngāti Hauā me Ngāti Porou), University of Waikato My PhD will focus on Māori-specific interventions that refocus delivery of health services to become holistic and responsive to Māori need. The key feature of my research is the use of the He Pikenga Waiora (HPW) Implementation Framework to co-design a holistic Harti Hauora Māmā Assessment…
View projectMāori co-designed intervention to refocus New Zealand health service delivery.
Nikki Barrett (Ngāti Hauā me Ngāti Porou), University of Waikato
My PhD will focus on Māori-specific interventions that refocus delivery of health services to become holistic and responsive to Māori need. The key feature of my research is the use of the He Pikenga Waiora (HPW) Implementation Framework to co-design a holistic Harti Hauora Māmā Assessment Tool (HHMAt) and implement within the Hapū Wānanga programme.
A key characteristic of the HPW Implementation Framework is that whānau voice will be used in all stages of the project to ensure quality and continuous improvement throughout the project. Too often New Zealand research, literature and reports draw on largely quantitative data to focus on the poor health outcomes of Māori compared to their non-Māori counterparts.
Aaron Smale (Ngati Porou, Nga Puhi, Whakatohea), Victoria, University of Wellington Although there is a significant research showing Maori are over represented in negative social statistics, there has been very little research connecting these statistics to the impacts of abuse in social welfare custody. For Maori to flourish, particularly those in hard to…
View projectThe Impact of State Welfare Care on Māori
Aaron Smale (Ngati Porou, Nga Puhi, Whakatohea), Victoria, University of Wellington
Although there is a significant research showing Maori are over represented in negative social statistics, there has been very little research connecting these statistics to the impacts of abuse in social welfare custody. For Maori to flourish, particularly those in hard to reach communities such as gangs and prisons, this narrative needs to be told. My research will help victims and wider society understand the impacts this dark chapter in New Zealand history has had on Maori and the country as a whole. This understanding will lead to more effective responses to those impacts.