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A far north iwi leader says tikanga is not fixed in stone, and tangihanga can change to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rules from tangihanga will be relaxed when the country moves to Alert Level 2 tomorrow, but not as much as many hoped for.
For weddings, funerals and tangihanga, no more than 10 people will be able to take part at any one time.
Te Rarawa chair Haami Piripi says the form of tangihanga has changed over the years to suit shifting conditions.
"It’s obviously a very dangerous time. The most dangerous thing about it is the human contact element so I think there has to be a measure of adaptation of tangihanga. If our tikanga are not able to adapt to meet the needs of today for us, then I think there is perhaps something obsolete about the tikanga," he says.
Haami Piripi says people could look at options like giving whānau virtual access to aspects of the tangihanga through streaming.
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