Professional Funeral Services

… we’re blessed with having our own Māori Funeral Director here in [place]. [Name of service] are beautiful. They’re from Auckland. He chose [our area]. Was supposed to have been South Island but he chose [here] anyway but. So, anyway they, it’s a beautiful service… [Name] was part [of it], well they, they link in together this one … Well he’s got a service over in [place] and he’s got one in [place]… but see that’s what’s so unique about all of us is that we can connect all around the motu [country]. Once he’s done whānau that have rung up from here to Australia and things like that.

We do have a Māori undertaker that’s moved into the [name of] district who does service over here as well.

… they offer the whole package as far as tikanga, wairuatanga, you know manaakitanga and all that.

I had dealings with the local undertaker down here who was just all about how much [money] he can get from you. And many a times I’ve had to sit with family… because when you lose somebody, you’re at a real vulnerable stage. So, when you lose somebody whatever you hear that’s going to make you put that person on a … real high stand... And I heard that with this local undertaker, knowing that this family wasn’t a very financial family, and [the funeral director] tried to make them spend thousands more than what they really needed to.

When he [undertaker] offered them [family] advice on which coffin to take, and he opened it up, he opened his book up and he put it down and he said, ‘Oh this is the most common one and your father would look lovely in this, you know, Redwood.’ So, I said to him, ‘Well am I able to have a look at the book?’ And I said, ‘Can you take us back to the start?’ So, he took us back to the start. This coffin I think was about near on $4000 just for the coffin. And he took us back to the start and he put the book down and I said, ‘Right,’ and I flipped the page over and I said, ‘How much is this one?’ And it was just ordinary pine like this. And he said, ‘Oh that’s $800.’ And I turned straight to the family and I said, ‘Your father would look lovely in this.’ I said, ‘It’s not the car that makes the man, it’s the man that makes the car.’ You know, and just little things like that where you know they’re grieving, so let’s not take advantage of, of their situation.

… the first night, we donate the marae. [Name] marae will donate everything on the first night… what we do [is] we supply enough kai for the first night and usually there’s ample left over for breakfast the next day.

I mean I’ve already planned my funeral; I’ve already paid for my headstone, so all my daughter has to do is just put the wordings and that on it and, yeah.… but when it comes to stuff like that, I can talk to her about it cause yeah, ya know, she’s strong and pig-headed like me so which is good, I think.

I find it’s a matter of frankly, cost… It’s the cost. Now I had experience with a friend whose father died. He was a kaumatua; he had a Pākehā wife, she died earlier and of course she was left at home. Ah he died. He, his brothers, his uncles all came and, and he was lying in his house. And I happened to be there too. And these uncles they said he, he was from [name of place], ‘We must take him nephew, must take him back let him lie on his marae.’ And the nephew said, ‘There’s only my brother and I, Uncle. We both don’t have full time jobs. Our vehicle’s not in good running condition to go that distance. Ah and we can’t afford to.’ ‘So, what are you going to do?’ ‘We’re going to have him cremated... The fact is, we don’t have the money Uncle, we just don’t have the money.’ So anyway, the uncles were all disappointed...

Like my sister, her wish was to be cremated from Australia, but we said, ‘No, you’re coming back in a casket,’ and we brought her back in a casket. Yeah, well it was about $16,000. That was… [in] 2010.

… they [WINZ] also would support in his funeral costs. And so, whatever that amount of money could be… we haven’t gone through that process, but that’s what they relayed back to us… money to help with funeral costs, and that money would be going directly… to the funeral home. Like [to] the undertaker who cared for Dad.