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.