May 07, 2020
Tears of rage from whanau ora chair at tangi ban
Click here for the full interview.
The chair of the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency says the Government went too far in blocking tangi during Level 4 and 3 lockdowns.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says Māori will be mindful of the 1918 influenza epidemic, and she is named after her mother’s sister Merepeka who died in that.
But that is not a reason to put aside cultural norms and obligations.
"And I didn’t like it right from the start. I thought, where are our Māori leaders? Why would the Government tell us what they believe is best for us as Māori? We can use our heads. We can say we will ensure that during tangi we will do things right. And our families, we could have policed that ourselves. We weren't given the responsibility or even the opportunity. I'm really annoyed about that," she says.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says the effect of not being able to grieve properly will be very harmful for some people.
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