John D'hondt wrote:
john
The business of burying the dead in Ireland certainly seems to have
changed in recent years and not for the better, but at the same time
some people in NZ (mainly of Irish descent I guess) seem to be
re-adopting the wake or at least having the deceased at home ovenight
before the funeral and certainly almost no burial here would be such a
rushed job.
This is of course very much in line with Maori custom. When a Maori is
buried he/she is if at all possible taken home to the tribal marai (home
ground) and a tangi (which is what they call a wake) held in the
meetinghouse lasting three days, on the last of which the burial takes
place. there is normally a huge gathering with folks sleeping in the
meeting house and eating in the ceremonial dining hall while relatives
attend the body day and night right through until the burial. For most
maori this would be in the form of a ceremony by whichever of the
mainline churches the deceased claimed allegiance to, but the tangi
itself has no European input is wholly according to maori tradition..
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
