More Than A Photograph: How Māori Wove Images Of The Deceased Into Tangihanga
Today, it is a familiar sight at tangihanga across Aotearoa. A photograph of the tūpāpaku sits proudly beside the coffin, on a table adorned with flowers, or hangs within the wharenui among generations of ancestors who have gone before.
For many Māori, these images are far more than family keepsakes. They are living connections to whakapapa, memory and presence. Yet the use of photographs at tangihanga is a relatively recent development in Māori history, emerging only after the arrival of photography in the mid-19th century.
A New Technology Finds A Place In Te Ao Māori: Photography arrived in New Zealand during the 1840s, but it was from the 1860s and 1870s that Māori began rapidly incorporating photographs into mourning customs.
The adoption was swift and practical. For many whānau, a photograph of a deceased loved one became a treasured taonga and often the only image ever taken of that person.
During the late nineteenth century, memorial and post-mortem photography became common throughout New Zealand. Families would sometimes commission photographs shortly after death, particularly for children and elders whose lives might otherwise have left little visual record.
Rather than viewing photography as a foreign practice, Māori adapted it into existing cultural frameworks surrounding remembrance, whakapapa and tangihanga.
Tangihanga And The Presence Of The Dead: Tangihanga has always been one of the most enduring institutions within Māori society.
Long before cameras existed, the dead remained present throughout mourning rituals through waiata, whaikōrero, whakapapa recitations and storytelling. The arrival of photography provided another way to maintain that connection.
By the 1890s, photographs of deceased whānau members were commonly displayed around the tūpāpaku during tangihanga. Images of previously departed relatives were often placed nearby as well, symbolically surrounding the deceased with their ancestors.
Historical accounts describe mourners speaking directly to photographs, acknowledging them as representatives of loved ones whose physical presence was gone but whose wairua and memory remained.
The photograph became more than an image. It became a focal point for grief, remembrance and connection.
The Rise Of Kawe Mate: One of the most important Māori adaptations of photography occurred through the practice of kawe mate.
Kawe mate involves taking the memory of the deceased to marae and communities that were unable to attend the original tangihanga.
Historically, after a funeral concluded, whānau would travel to other marae carrying stories and acknowledgements of the person who had died.
Photographs transformed this practice.
Instead of relying solely on oral accounts, whānau could carry an image of the deceased, allowing those who had been absent to see the person, grieve collectively and pay their respects.
The photograph effectively extended the tangihanga beyond the original gathering and ensured the deceased remained visible within wider kinship networks.
Today, photographs continue to play a central role in kawe mate across many iwi and hapū.
Portraits In The Wharenui: During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries another significant practice emerged.
Photographs and painted portraits of ancestors began appearing inside whare whakairo and meeting houses.
Many marae throughout Aotearoa developed galleries of tūpuna displayed along the walls of the wharenui.
These images strengthened visual links between present generations and those who came before them.
Visitors entering a meeting house were immediately surrounded by whakapapa, with photographs serving as reminders that ancestors remain part of contemporary tribal life.
The practice complemented traditional carvings, tukutuku panels and oral histories, creating new ways of preserving and transmitting tribal knowledge.
Beyond The Tangi:The role of photographs has expanded well beyond funerals.
Across Māori communities, photographs of deceased relatives frequently accompany important events including treaty settlement ceremonies, Waitangi Tribunal hearings, court proceedings, unveilings and significant political gatherings.
The presence of these images acknowledges that important decisions are not made solely for the living.
They recognise the continuing influence of ancestors and reinforce the idea that those who have passed remain connected to the collective journey of their descendants.
For many Māori, displaying photographs at significant occasions reflects the understanding that whakapapa does not end with death.
A Living Tradition: While post-mortem photography itself has largely disappeared, the use of photographs during tangihanga remains deeply embedded within Māori cultural practice.
Modern funerals commonly feature photographic displays, digital presentations and framed portraits celebrating the life of the deceased.
What began as a nineteenth-century technological innovation has become a distinctly Māori tradition.
The photograph serves as both memory and presence. It helps whānau remember those who have passed while reinforcing the belief that loved ones remain part of the collective life of the whānau, hapū and iwi.
More than 150 years after Māori first embraced photography, images of the deceased continue to occupy a central place within tangihanga and wider Māori society.
They remind us that while people may leave the physical world, they never truly leave the stories, relationships and whakapapa that continue to shape the generations who follow.
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