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MASSEY is published by Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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MASSEY has a circulation of 75,000.

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Funeral Director
Mike Pehi Dip Mäori Development

New Zealand päkeha culture deals with death in a particular way, Mäori culture in another. So while you might, for the purposes of a census, describe Mike Pehi as a funeral director, the culturally-circumscribed description is a poor fit. He does what he does in the Mäori spirit. Mahia i roto i te wairua Mäori.

Mäori have always had their own skilled people and methods for preparing the tupapaku, the body of the dead for the tangihanga, or funeral. There were differences between iwi. Some, for example, used salt water to wash the body daily; others used shark oil. The tangihanga traditionally lasted two or three weeks. Above all, the tupapaku was never alone.

Among Mäori, most of these traditions are kept to – where possible. Most funeral directors, however, do not welcome the participation of family and other mourners in the dressing of the body, nor their presence at the embalming. Some deaths are sudden or violent, requiring the loss of the body to police ‘custody’ and an autopsy. And the atmosphere of the funeral ‘home’ can be alienating.

Mike combines conventional funeral directing services with Mäori traditional and ritual. He offers full participation in preparing the body for the funeral as well as a sort of guardianship, when necessary, so that the deceased is never alone. Family and friends can decorate the casket interior, watch and take part in the embalming process, and dress and talk to the deceased.

“Funeral homes are cold places, especially for Mäori,” he says. “We want people to feel comfortable here and to find the experience less frightening. Some people may find the idea of attending a loved one’s burial preparation macabre. But Mäori have a different perception of death.”

Mike also provides advice. “For Mäori and others, they need knowledge of the process and who to contact. This is particularly important after a sudden death, when an autopsy is required. The family wants the body returned as soon as possible. I have to explain that the police have a job to do as agents for the coroner.” Mike acts as poutiriao, as an intermediary between families and the police, under the Korowai Kahui (or spiritual cloak), a programme involving local police, local Mäori and MidCentral Health.

Dr Tai Black, associate professor in Mäori Studies, praises Mike’s work: “He provides a link between the burial and the marae. The tangi lets people express themselves honestly about how they feel. Important events and shared experiences will be recalled. Ancestors will be remembered. It is a forum for collected ideas, for historical and contemporary experiences, which provide a framework for the life of the deceased and the mourners of the decades. By taking those values and beliefs and feelings into the mortuary, you recreate a sense of ownership and connection. You are inviting people to be part of preparing the dead for the journey home, giving them protection along the way. That is a privileged connection.”

Dr Black says Mike, as a Mäori-speaking undertaker, is a rarity. “When he acts as poutiriao he is allowed into places that family are excluded from. He will explain: ‘The law does not allow you to be here but I will be here to act on your behalf.’ He is able to talk to the family in Mäori; to assure them that the spiritual cloak is one, that he is there as a guardian, for the family. This is very, very unusual.”

Mike grew up in the Hokianga as one of 23 siblings and he was often called on to help coordinate tangi. He spent two decades teaching and for three years he lectured in kurakaupapa (total immersion) at the Palmerston North (now Massey University) College of Education. He became deputy principal of Turakina Mäori Girls College in 1997.

AAA Colenso-Pehi Ltd Funeral and Monumental Services opened for business in Feilding in 1999; the triple A pushing the business to the front of directory listings, and ‘Colenso’ honouring an ancestor of that name. Mike’s eldest son Adrian (also a Massey alumnus) recently qualified as a mortician, and joined the business: this is an industry of family-run enterprises. Mike still uses his teaching skills for training programmes, working with Occupational Safety and Health and local police. He intends to offer training in funeral directing, embalming and headstone production and looking at doing a Masters thesis.

In Palmerston North, coincidentally, another Massey alumna and non-Mäori, Dr Jean Hera, is also questioning the way society deals with death. She leads a support group and has produced a publication helping to encourage more ‘home deaths’. She is particularly interested in restoring the role of women in the death and burial process. Her PhD research has a strong focus on Mäori custom and she says päkeha are increasingly recognising there is much to be learned from the traditional Mäori ways of death. But her driving passion is to raise awareness of the real traditions of päkeha culture.

“It isn’t well recognised that the present mainstream päkeha experience that sees death treated with detachment and hidden away as much as possible, is not our death culture as päkeha. It was not handed down to us over generations by our ancestors, but has been a recent intervention. Watching over and caring for our dead, as is the Mäori custom, is also our culture and we need go back less than a hundred years to discover this.”

The Palmerston North Women’s Homedeath Support Group can be contacted on 06 358 7139.