('CASKETEERS' THEME MUSIC) Captions by Ella Wheeler. Edited by Ingrid Lauder. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019 (EXPECTANT MUSIC) (EXPECTANT MUSIC CONTINUES) Foliki has a new van. My wife insisted that we get a much more expensive van and a van that looked the part and would do the work properly and wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg to fix all the time. So you've screwed them in, but what about the` Do they work? I want to try it. Oh, OK. Just` Tell me if they work. Mm-hm. (CAR BEEPS) (ENGINE TURNS ON) Yep, left. Right. Yep, and can you do your reverse, Foliki? Oh, yep. Neat. Last year, I bought an amazing awesome van that lasted us about a week, and then it broke down. But I got a good deal for it, so, you know, doing the math, we didn't lose a lot. (LAUGHS) That's the plan. When Foliki and Francis get together, it's no good. It's not a good combo, because Foliki listens to anything Francis tells him to do. (GENTLE MUSIC) OK, so we'll go dump this rubbish. Yep. And then we need to go and get a plant for the front cos that one's... What plant? That one out the front that's got no head on it. (LAUGHS) As you enter the funeral home in Onehunga, we have a palm tree just outside, and unfortunately, due to... its death, um, it's dead. So we need to replace it. These are beautiful, but we just need height. Francis destroys plants all the time. He doesn't know how to look after them. He just thinks that they're beautiful. Here we go. So, the one I bought last time was` You see how big this one is? See the trunk? It was massive like that. So we won't go that big, because that's the problem I had. I want to get a fairly big palm for the front of the funeral home in a nice... palmy-shape, I guess. This one's neat, eh, because the pot's this high,... so you put the plant in, it'll be that high. What do you reckon? Yeah. It will probably grow as tall as that other one. Mm. Couple of years. I have more fake plants in the funeral homes than I do living plants. The livings plants are difficult to take care of. Mm, they are a bit like humans. They have moods, and they go through phases. If I could, I'd replace them all with artificial plants. Oh, they're beautiful, eh? Then you just grow your own roses. Mm. Too much work, e hoa. Can't even keep the ones we have alive. (SERENE MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC) Today in our care we have Mr Peter Koti. Mr Koti had cancer for two years, and so it's been a long battle for him and his family. The whanau have chosen the carved Maori casket. They've gone all out for their dad, which is he tohu aroha ` it's their way of showing their love. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Today I'm taking Mr Koti back home. Stand facing the hearse. The other way. One, two, three. Up we go. Come back, come back. Haere mai. Up we go. Let me just close this door. Haere mai, haere mai. As we go up, we're going to go up level, OK? Haere mai. As we prepare to take Mr Koti into his home, his daughter calls him in with a karanga. Up we go. Can you all fit? Hoki wairua mai ki to whanau pani e. Hoki wairua mai. Lift him up. Haere mai. Whakatau mai. When we left the funeral home and I looked at Mr Koti one last time to check over before we placed the lid on, I thought he looked... awesome. But when we take the lid off at the house, Mr Koti's wife isn't entirely happy. (TENSE MUSIC) Um, I... I don't know. Um... Yeah, no. I'm not` I didn't really see him beforehand. Yeah. I'll come back. I've got to come back and take a look at him, eh? OK. Mr Koti's wife knows him best, and she knows what he should look like. I need to sort this out right away. Plans for the holidays? I'm starting my kitchen renovation. By yourself, unsupervised? I've seen the TV shows. You can do better. With a Gem personal loan you could get someone to do up your kitchen. And with our 'pay it faster' option you could save up to $1,000 in interest just by paying an extra $50 a month. Yeah, course. I just really wanna knock out a wall first. You can do better with Gem, powered by Latitude. Ask today. * I'm back at the house, and I have all my instruments with me. And I can get straight into closing Mr Koti's eyes and, you know, taking care of whatever else needs to be taken care of, according to his wife. So sorry about everything, you know, that she expressed. That's OK. I'll get it` try and get it sorted the best we can. When an embalmer sets the features ` in this case closing the eyes ` they seal the eyelids, and so, in this instance, I need to reverse that process and open their eyes again to be able to seal them again. You know, that's a lot of taimaha on my shoulders. Are we able to get Mum? Cos I want to make sure she's absolutely happy with` just before I leave, in case. I don't want her any raruraru. I do embalm, so I know how to do this. But I still do not want to get this wrong. Just let me know your thoughts, Ngaire. Is this OK with you? Yep. What did you do? I just got a few little tricks in that box of tools over there. Tricks, eh? Some tricks. But, yeah, is that a bit better? Yep. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Ka pai. I actually didn't realise he had still been swollen from the` I know his fingers and hands are all swollen,... Yeah. ...but I didn't actually notice that his face was. Mm. But kei te pai. We know what he went through. Oh, I feel like I could float out of that room. It feels really good, and to get a hug and an awhi from her, it gives me the seal of approval, that kua pai inaianei. (SERENE MUSIC) OK, Foliki, are you ready? Yes. I need these white stones taken out. (GROANS) Yes, the palm at the front door has died. It's not looking the part. Nice. This your plant, honey? Yes. Very nice. Thank you. Yeah. You're gonna throw that one away now, eh? Um... (LAUGHS) I think it might` You're going to relocate it somewhere? It might still live. The palm outside? Yeah, he did kill it. Never watered it, never worried about maintaining it. (SIGHS) Right. I'm hoping this plant will be all right. Cos it's a new plant, we've got new soil, and we're in winter, so there shouldn't be any watering issues. Can you just have a look? Yep. Do you want me to let it go? Yep. Oh, lovely. It is. Yeah. (SIGHS) I'll just cut some of those leaves. One of the problems with real plants is that they have their own natural shape, be it sequential, be it one big leaf there and a couple there. So you've got to try your best to make it look... in proportion. I think that's us. I'll just leave everything else to grow. Yep. Neat. I don't mean to sound like a controlling person, but with plants, you can't control them, and that proves to be an issue sometimes. (SOLEMN MUSIC) Down the middle. Ah, ka pai. Beautiful. Kia ora tatou. Thank you, whanau. Today I'm back at Mr Koti's whare to uplift him, and then we're going to transfer him through to the Mataatua Marae in Mangere. ...ki runga o te matou e. Hoki wairua mai ra... When you first arrive to a marae, you have to wait to be welcomed on with a karanga. You can't just walk on. (TANGATA WHENUA AND MANUHIRI CALL OUT) The kawa at this marae is that any tupapaku that come on to the marae, must enter the wharenui through the window on the side. As we go through, you can go through to the inside. So all the dead will go through the window, and all the living will walk through the doors. (ALL SING HIMENE) Mr Koti will spend one night in the marae, and all of his whanau will sleep next to him in the wharenui. (ALL SING HIMENE) I need to get back to the Henderson branch urgently because one of my funeral director's family members has suddenly passed away. Help us with his feet. We'll start with the feet, eh? (SOMBRE MUSIC) Denise's father has died of an aneurysm. (SIGHS) I feel for Denise. I know what she's feeling right now. You know, just understanding that Dad's gone. (SIGHS) As a team, we've come together, and we're going to do everything we can to help Denise. Where's your name, dear? Right here. Come and have a look. Where? (GASPS) Denise. Denise. Any other names on there? No, just me. Ae, aue. Just me. Just me. Cos I'm the chosen one. (CHUCKLING) You were chosen. Oh wow. She's his queen. Ko ia te kuini. One, two, three. There we go. That's it. Oh. Beautiful. Personal loss as a funeral director is difficult. You never think that that will be you. Francis was awesome when my dad died. And I know with Denise's dad's passing, Francis is gonna be exactly the same. (SOLEMN MUSIC) * This morning I've arrived at the Mataatua Marae in Mangere, here to uplift Mr Koti to take him on his final journey back to Otorohanga. (SOLEMN MUSIC) We'll all be driving in procession together, and naturally, there will be some stops. The significance of us stopping at Taupiri Maunga ` the family have whanau who are interred there, but also, in general, a lot of Maori drive past and, sort of, adhere to moments of silence just to acknowledge the many tupuna who lay on that maunga, but also for the many Maori kings and Maori queen that have passed away. He honore, he kororia. He maungarongo ki te whenua. E Pa, hikina nga taumahatanga katoa ki runga i tenei whanau, ki runga i o matou mama. Because we're moving Mr Koti a number of times, there are always opportunities to korero, to feel and to be present in whatever the moment is. Arahina matou kia tae pai atu ki te wa kainga o Te Nehe-nehe-nui. Tiakina matou katoa e wehe ana i tenei wahi tapu. Kua maringi mai nga roimata ` you've let all your tears flow, and you've heard everything, you've spoken, you've felt, and that's... that's beautiful. (UPLIFTING, REFLECTIVE MUSIC) (WOMAN CHANTS KARANGA) It's very common for Maori to take care of their own funerals, so tomorrow the burial day will be. And the family will dig their own grave, they have their own family cemetery, and they'll transport Mr Koti from the marae to the urupa themselves. So I'm finished. Kua mutu taku mahi ` my job here is done. (SERENE MUSIC) Morena. Morena. Morena. Morena. KAIORA: Today we're in Whangarei at Denise's dad's home. Everyone is gathered here today to have a final funeral service for him here. We're going to Kauri cemetery first to take him to his parents and his sister,... Aw. ...and then we're going to` So, you're driving past there? Yep, and then we're going down to the cemetery for the cremation. Cremation. Denise most definitely has her funeral director's hat on. But this is Denise, you know. She was her father's queen. And so I think to honour her dad, she wanted to make sure everything was organised, and, boy, did she do a beautiful job. Last night I got the word that I was doing a korero for Granddad. I said no; Auntie Denise said yes. (LAUGHTER) So here I am, on behalf of the mokos, I think I got given it because I'm the better-looking one. (LAUGHTER) Not as handsome as you, Granddad. ALL SING: # ...ka titi te rangi ma te taro Rangitoto. At the moment Denise is holding OK, but there will come that time when it's time to close the lid. And that's when she will have her moment with her dad. # Ka titi te rangi ma te taro Rangitoto. # The whole family are struggling with this. This was a sudden death. It wasn't an imminent death where one was ill. It just suddenly came upon the family that Kerry passed away, and so it is... life-changing in a matter of, you know, days for this family. BOY CHANTS: A ti...ka tonu! ALL: Ue! Ti...ka tonu! Ue! Tika tonu atu ki a koe, e tama. Hiki nei koe aku whakaaro, pakia! He hiki aha to hiki? He hiki aha to hiki? The haka has all sorts of meanings depending on what the words are. With grief, as we all know, it comes out in various ways. So we've got anger, we've got sorrow, we've got love. But we're able to express all these elements through the haka. ...roa ina hoki ra te tohe o te uaua na e tau nei! Ana! Ana! Ana! Aue,... hii! (SOBBING) Denise's final goodbye to her dad is at the crematorium. WOMEN: # Rerenga Wairua. ALL SING: # Rerenga Wairua, tena whakarongo mai. The mokopuna don't want to stop singing. They're ready to go song after song after song. And it is beautiful. # ...Reitu te wahine # no Tainui waka e. # Nana i marena. # Nana i marena # ko Ueoneone e. # Ka puta ka ora... # Denise is always strong for everyone else and her family. Yeah, absolutely. So it's different to see this side of her. # ...arohaina mai. # Tama ngakau marie... # (SOBBING, WAILING) I feel aroha, I do. I feel so aroha for her. We'll be keeping an eye on Denise, just to make sure that she's OK ` a wairua, a tinana. (SERENE MUSIC) (QUIRKY MUSIC) Today we're at the Henderson branch, and we're just doing a bit of a spring clean around the place. Oh, I just never know when to stop. Maybe there. Ooh, no. Hang on. Hang on, son. Couple more here. Do you need me to...? Francis does not have the patience to be a gardener. Life might be a little easier for him if we just got some fake plants at Henderson. (LAUGHS) (CHEERING) There are two plants in the car park that are on their way out, so we'll give them a hand and take them to the dump. These two plants have been a nuisance to my life for a long time. If they're not nearly dead, someone's backed into them and broken the pot or cracked the pot. The new plant I've purchased for the Onehunga branch ` the palm out the front ` is not doing too well again. I've just had Fehi cut off a couple of the dead branches. And I just hope the whole plant doesn't die. I don't feed the plants. Captions by Ella Wheeler. Edited by Ingrid Lauder.