View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Commons@Waikato i Tangi and State Funeral: Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu & Prime Minister Norman Kirk A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Social Science in Psychology at The University of Waikato by Karyn Okeroa McRae The University of Waikato Te Whare Wananga o Waikato 2010 ii Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my beautiful father, Alfie McRae. What’s it all about Alfie… iii Abstract The tangi of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Te Arikinui) in 2006 paralleled the State funerals for New Zealand Prime Ministers like Norman Kirk who died in 1974. State funerals require the huge mobilization of people and resources and always attract the attention of the national and international media. The death of a Prime Minister is news worthy, but what of a minority indigenous fourth world leader like Te Arikinui? Why did her passing attract so much media attention? In this study I argue that media representation of the tangi of Te Arikinui was largely about social, cultural and symbolic capital. In media saturated societies such as Aotearoa/New Zealand, through mainstream media outlets like TV One News and the Waikato Times, Te Arikinui’s tangi event claimed a dominant space in the lives of Maori and non Maori alike. The data source includes print news media coverage of the tangi of Te Arikinui and the State funeral of Norman Kirk. Descriptive narrative and abductive analysis inform the methodology used in this study. As expected, print media reporting of both events progressed through the three stages identified by Durkheim, those of, separation, liminality and reincorporation. The ownership of death, the deceased and the continued possession of their mortal remains, itself a cultural object with symbolic and cultural capital, reflected the actual power and control of the possessor. State funerals and tangi are about the ritualized performance of grief and mourning, and require the appropriate social, cultural and symbolic capital for its enactment. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, acknowledgement needs to be made to the Maori and Psychology Research Unit within the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato, and to Trust Waikato for providing me with funding that allowed me to start and complete this thesis. It is appropriate that my personal acknowledgement to the people that have walked this ‘thesis journey’ with me, begins with my primary supervisor Associate Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora; your patience, belief and awhi have guided me to ‘this place of completion’ - kia ora. I would like to acknowledge and thank my other supervisors, Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Associate Professor Darrin Hodgetts for their valuable time, input and encouragement. This thesis took the extended route to get here, during this time I have had the privilege to study and work with some wonderful, supportive and generous people. There have been many, I thank you. The last three months have continued to bless me with people that have motivated and inspired me to finish this tohu. These people, I would like to name; my beautiful cousin Rachel Jones, my fantabulous friend Shelly Rao; the beautiful Dr Michelle Levy, and lastly, Kate and Tia, my thesis buddies. To my family, my partner Kevin, my Turipuku and Takataka, and my mum, Te Ruhi, you have all in your own way contributed to this thesis, your love and belief has given me sustenance. I thank you. v Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................ viii List of Newspaper Acronyms ..................................................................................... ix Glossary ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Social and Cultural Capital ......................................................................................... 3 Death, Loss and Grief ............................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................................................ 31 The Media ................................................................................................................. 31 Public Death and Mourning in the Media ................................................................ 32 A Prime Minister and an Ariki ................................................................................. 37 Chapter 3: A State Funeral for Prime Minister Norman Kirk ............................. 43 Overview .................................................................................................................. 43 The Media in the 1970’s ........................................................................................... 43 A Leader Passes ........................................................................................................ 44 Power, Symbols and Unity ....................................................................................... 49 A Nation in Mourning .............................................................................................. 57 Transitioning death ................................................................................................... 65 Summary ................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter 4: The Tangi for Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu ................................... 71 Nga Maunga Korero, Nga Parikarangaranga ........................................................... 71 Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Kotahitanga ........................................................ 75 The Loss of a Rangatira ............................................................................................ 79 ‘The Lady’ ................................................................................................................ 81 vi The closing down of State Highway 1 ................................................................... 83 A Tangi for an Ariki ................................................................................................. 87 Wairuatanga ............................................................................................................ 95 Waikato Te Awa ....................................................................................................... 98 Taupiri Te Maunga .................................................................................................. 99 A durable biography ............................................................................................... 101 Summary ................................................................................................................. 102 Chapter 5: Conclusion ............................................................................................. 104 References ................................................................................................................. 106 vii List of Tables Table 1 Significant deaths 1997 – 2006……………………………………………73 viii List of Figures Figure 1 Funeral procession for Prime Minister Norman Kirk leaving Parliament. Evening Post staff photographer, 4th August 1974 (1/4-021831-F). ........................................................................................................ 50 Figure 2 Prime Minister Norman Kirk's coffin being carried up the steps of Parliament. Evening Post staff photographer, 2nd August 1974 (EP/1974/4891/13A-F)............................................................................................. 51 Figure 3 Alongside the coffin of the late Prime Minister Norman Kirk at Parliament House, Wellington. Evening Post staff photographer, 2nd August 1974 (1/4-021782-F). ........................................................................... 55 Figure 4 Map showing regional road network ....................................................................... 84 Figure 5 Map showing State Highway One from Turangawaewae Marae to Taupiri Maunga ........................................................................................................ 85 Figure 6 Te Arikinui arrives at Taupiri ................................................................................ 100 ix List of Newspaper Acronyms NZH New Zealand Herald WT Waikato Times WTW Waikato Times Weekend HP Hamilton Press SST Sunday Star Times WH Weekend Herald x Glossary Haka A Maori posture dance Hapu Relational kinship network Hawaiki The place from which Maori came Hine-nui-te-po The guardian of an