('THE CASKETEERS' THEME MUSIC) Captions by Kate McCullough. Edited by Kate Harris. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (CURIOUS MUSIC) - Mihaka Tipene. 7 years old. My mum and dad is Francis and Kaiora. - Mihaka, would you like a sandwich? - No, thank you. I'm waiting for my sushi. - Excuse me? - I'm waiting for my sushi. - It's the school holidays, and... my Mihaka has come to mahi with me today. So you want me to order sushi? - Yes, please. - No. Are you ready to earn your lunch? - (LAUGHS) - No, you're funny. - You're funny. - Well, if you're coming to mahi with Mum, I'm gonna get you to do a few things around the funeral home. You can... go and polish the casket. - I don't know how to, um... - Yeah. Uncle Tamale's gonna show you how to do it. - TAMALE: Yeah. Let's go. - Oh yeah. Let's go. - I'll come and check it out later. - OK. - Kids, eh? They expect to get anything for free these days. - This is what we've got ` we've got this one. Ooh, we've also got this one. Don't think it's that. - Oh, these aren't full. - He is a very bubbly kid in the sense that he's real expressive ` not afraid to tell you what's on his mind. - Well, it smells like dead rats. That means dead eggs. - (CHUCKLES) - And then you could` you could cook them while you're in the ground and make some hangi. - Some hangi?! (LAUGHS) - (LAUGHS) The casket? Yeah, it's messy. Messy as. - You think it's important to polish caskets? - Yes. - Why? - Cos the dead people can smell the rats. And then if they could smell` they don't want to smell the rats, so they can smell this. - That's right. You need to make sure it's all well for them, eh? - Yeah. (GRUNTS) (VACUUM WHIRRS) ...and pretty hard, because you have to get the carpet up or something, and then` You can just use your sweep. - Your dad has too many Dysons. - I heard the vacuuming going, so cleaned up a bit at the back. Ka pai, son. Yeah, you're a keeper. Ooh, have we polished some caskets, have we? - Yeah. - We have. - We did all of them. - (SCOFFS, LAUGHS) - Did all right, eh? - OK. Shall I just go through with the finger? (LAUGHS) He worked pretty hard today. - (GRUNTS) Now let's go eat. - Sure, Mum can shout him some sushi. - (SIGHS CONTENTEDLY) - You did so awesome today with your mahi. - Obviously. - Here we go. - I had salmon. - Do you think we earned the sushi? - Yeah, we obvi` - Of course. - ...earned our sushi. (PRAYS IN TONGAN) Amen! - Where's the men? - The what? - Where's the men? (LIGHT MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Today in our care we have the late Mr John Michael Peter Te Wake, who was 70 years old and passed away suddenly at his home in Otara, Auckland. In the dressing room helping Fehi and I will be Mr Te Wake's wife, daughter and son. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) The family have bought some new clothes for Mr Te Wake. And then we'll tuck his shirt in, as far as you can. - And then what we're gonna do, we're gonna pull it towards us. - Yes. - Like that. Yeah. And there you go. - Give me your hand. - (CHUCKLES) Being present to dress your spouse for the last time after many, many years of love and marriage, it must be something that's overwhelming, but also very emotional at the same time, because it's one of the last acts of aroha that's going to be performed by those of his loved ones left behind, but more so by his wife. And so giving her that opportunity would be sad but healing for her at the same time. - WHISPERS: Handsome, eh? - Oh... - Still handsome, eh? (CHUCKLES) - 45 years later, still handsome. - And at the end, we've placed his beautiful taonga on top of his tie, accompanied with a lovely korowai, which the daughter has given us to place around Mr Te Wake's shoulders in his casket, and it looks just absolutely beautiful and regal. Tino ataahua. And you see how the casket helps us with his jacket? - Mm-hm. - Keeps it all in place. So we're just gonna do this for your waewae. Look at his beautiful, shiny shoes. Man. When we move a tupapaku into the chapel ` in this instance, Mr Te Wake ` we always start with a karakia; a prayer. And the reason we do that is because a lot of the time, the whanau have not seen their loved one since the day before; in some cases, two days. But also what we're saying and what we're doing is we are moving from the preparation... side of the tupapaku through to the other realm, where we're entering into tangihanga. And so we're finishing off what we've done in terms of all the funeral director's work. And we're saying 'Ko mutu tena' ` here we are into the realm of whanau pani, of family, of pouaru; and we're going to open up and invite the spirit to bless all who have attended, and also to bless us as kaimahi, that we may be relieved from that tapu. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) As I look around the room, I can see some of his mokopuna, children, extended whanau. His wife's whanau are there, and there is a feeling of a little bit of shock, cos it must have been quite sudden for this family. They're very sad. You could tell he was really, really loved. And so it's important for us to get our mihimihi and our himene and waiata done so that we can remove ourselves from the room to let them really soak in what's just happened and what's taken place before they move on back to the whare. (ALL SING WAIATA) - Thank you again for allowing us to prepare Papa John for his final journey. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) Tena koutou, tena koutou ` we'll leave you be now. Kia ora tatou. After spending a couple of hours with Mr Te Wake, the family will then uplift Mr Te Wake and place him into one of our whanau hearses, where they will drive him back from Onehunga through to Otara to his home. They will stay there the night, after which, early hours the following morning, they will leave from Otara through to Panguru, where Matua will lay in state at Ngati Manawa Marae until his burial service. (ALL SING WAIATA) No neira, i te Matua John, okioki mai ra i te ahurutanga o te po ki waenga i o tatou matua tupuna. Hoea ra to waka ki te pou herenga tapu ki te pou herenga tupuna. Moe mai ra. ('DECK THE HALLS') - Christmas at the funeral home is an important part for us, and especially having families come in during that time. People don't stop dying, even on Christmas Day, and during the Christmas holidays. So we've put up a tree. - The tree's been sitting there bare for a week. It's a long time, and I wonder what our whanau would think about that, eh? And they walk in and they go, 'Oh, there's a Christmas tree. 'Oh, there's a plain Christmas tree.' - This is a bit back to front, me doing all these little jobs. - Usually the Christmas tree is the admin team's job. Just given that there has been a lot of activities this year, just has been sort of no energy of get the tree up and get it nice, cos it's usually up by, like, the end of November. It's nice and, you know, bright ` heaps of balls and stuff. LAUGHS: But yeah, this year just seems really bare, and no one really cares. - Have you ever put up a Christmas tree? - No. - Yeah. - Cos I don't believe in Christmas. - Oh, really? - No. - Well, I was just` luckily, cos we were` I was wondering if Santa was gonna bring you a new man, and I knew he wouldn't. - That's not a present. - What is it? - That's` - (CHUCKLES) - It's` It's called strangulation. - Yeah. I knew you wouldn't want a new man. - No. I got no time. - The Christmas feeling brings a lot of joy. That's what I feel. My husband, though ` yeah, I` I feel he can be the Grinch at Christmas. - Decorating a tree is not easy. I mean, especially with those lights that we have. They are like wires ` just heaps and heaps of wires. And so you've got to untangle them. Everything's tangled. Just like my bloody undies. - Well, he's the one that actually puts all the decorations away most of the time anyway, so he's just untangling his own mess. (PHONE RINGS) - Mum? Jay? Logan? (PHONE RINGS) 'After asking for the staff to help prepare the tree and dress it...' Good afternoon, you're speaking with Francis. ...all of a sudden, they all had funerals and arrangements to go to. - Oh... pretending to do something, eh? - LAUGHS: And we're just walking past him, and he's getting frustrated, because no one's coming when he's calling them or texting them. Still no one's responding. I'm like, 'Uh-oh.' (PLAYFUL MUSIC) - Bet you if I asked them to come and have a kai they'd be all there. - Hi. - Hello. - Merry Christmas. - Same to you. - I think that's all we need on there is just lights, eh. You don't need any decorations. - No. Well, if you do, you have to give it to your staff. I'm not decorating it. - Oh... OK. - I've done the top part of the tree, placed the lights there, and then I think I'll let my wife finish the rest of the tree off. She would come and change it anyway, even if I did the whole thing. She would move things around, and` lights, decorations. So I'll just leave. - You've, like, tied knots in everything. Oh... - No. They've been carefully put on ` each and every single light. - OK. That's all right. We can pretty this up. (GENTLE MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Today in our care, we have the late Sylvia King, who was 85 years old and died due to breast cancer. Sylvia, your whanau are here to see you. WHISPERS: Haere mai. Come in. All there, ready. No, you can take it in ` sing to her. Take it in. 'The whanau have arrived to dress Mrs King.' Haere mai. Just in there. They come very sad, but they come with a wairua of... love and appreciation. And also they come comfortable, because they wanted to make this as comfortable as they can for themselves, and they did. They sung to Sylvia. (LAUGHTER) They laughed. They spoke. And that is just the perfect way to do this. And they had a lot of talent in that whanau, with guitar playing, with singing. It was just a beautiful time. Just sat outside the dressing room listening to them. - (SINGS WAIATA) - Sylvia was known in life for her style ` the way she presented herself. When she went out, she always was done up beautifully. She was a glamorous lady. - Which one? - More the blue one, off the shoulders. (LAUGHTER) - That's how she was in life, and the same in death. We wanted to portray her personality and character while she laid in her casket. - Oh dear. You've got your bling. (LAUGHTER) - But she loved bling. She was stylish. Is that the one she liked? - Yes, that's the one she loved. - These ones? These ones? - Are we putting stockings on Mum, or we'll leave her without stockings? - We've got stockings here as well. You guys decide on it. I don't do the stockings. - I don't think you need them. - We can see how we go. Once we get her skirt on, you'll be like, 'Oh no, we need stockings or something.' Yeah. - Yeah, OK. Good idea. - When a family can come in and be like that, and` it's obvious that they've had time with Sylvia prior to her death. So they've said and they've cried already and they've expressed. And so now was just another part to that` those final moments. - Would you like me, dear, to just do your hair just to go to the dairy? I think so. - Yes, she does. - Mrs King` her skin and her face were just out of this world. She was just so beautiful. Like, the family asked for a little bit of makeup to be applied to her. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) She obviously got her hair taken care of often in her mauiui stages of life, because her hair was beautiful too. Just a lovely, lovely tupapaku. I think just try getting her in line her. Haere mai. Please, haere mai. You can move the chairs. Put them wherever you want. Come up here. Here's your mum. Well, you fullas carry on singing, and we'll leave you be, eh? - OK. On three, we're gonna lift together. One, two, three. Up we go. And we're gonna turn around ever so slowly and gently. And you're gonna follow me. We're just going to walk over to the door and stand there until we're told to come in, eh? Haere mai. Today we have the funeral service of the late Sylvia King. - CELEBRANT: And now, if you're ready, e tu ` please stand. - Haere mai. Come in nice and slow. The Purewa Cemetery Chapel is a lovely space for a funeral ` its big windows, lovely backdrops. You've got Jill Williams, who's our celebrant for the day, and she's just bringing everything together and making all the planning, the service, come to fruition. - To the immediate whanau, we know that Sylvia meant so much to you all, and we could not possibly find the words to describe your grief ` the grief that you are feeling today. - We have a full house at the Purewa Chapel today. Lots of whanau and friends have arrived from around Tamaki and the motu to pay their respects to Sylvia. - TEARFULLY: Our older sisters... showed us nothing but love, care, and protection. They were, in fact, our guardian angels, and we responded accordingly. I can honestly say that neither my brother or I have ever, in our lives, had an argument or even a cross word with either of our sisters. That was the esteem with which we held them, which was just a reflection of the love they showed us. So... my guardian angel... you rest in peace til we meet again. - TEARFULLY: Growing up in Australia meant that I didn't get to spend as much time with Nana as I would have liked. So the time we did spend together, we really made the most of. On our last visit to Australia, I took two weeks off work, and I treated her like a queen. I took her to all the fancy restaurants, museums, galleries and to visit all of my friends and Melbourne family. She had the time of her life, and so did I. I will treasure those two weeks forever. - As she got older, she looked and acted younger than her age. One time when she was about 80, she told me she felt lonely. I knew one of her friends belonged to an elderly group who went out in a van on weekly outings. I suggested to her that she might want to join that group. She told me there was no way she'd be getting in a van with a bunch of geriatrics. (LAUGHTER) (ALL SING WAIATA) - The funeral service for Sylvia went beautifully. I think Sylvia would be proud of her whanau. Very happy with what they've pulled off, and a true celebration of Sylvia's life. (WAIATA CONTINUES) And I think the family are settled now, knowing that Sylvia is with her late husband. (WAIATA CONTINUES) - Goodbye, Mum. No reira e te Whaea Sylvia, okioki mai ra i te ahurutanga o te po, ki waenga i o tatou matua tupuna. (LIGHT MUSIC) - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Today we have the fabulous Pere Wihongi coming in to teach us a waiata. - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - For a long time now, we've always wanted our own waiata for the funeral home and for the staff. - My honour, actually, to bring through a waiata composed by Mahanga Pihama. (PEOPLE EXCLAIM) - I'm very humbled and blessed... that this waiata has been composed especially for us. - Whanau ko te aroha. - ALL: Whanau ko te aroha. - Oh, beautiful. - Whanau ko te au reka. - ALL: Whanau ko te au reka. - The staff, mm... some a little excited. Probably the first time that we're all together to learn a waiata, so... see how we go. - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Ae. - ...is what we're going for. - It's important that the staff have those skills, or have a waiata to sing to back up a kaikorero. Some of the difficulties might be actually being able to sing in tune. - 'Ha' is your first split into your harmonies. 'Aro ko te aro' ` split. (ALL SING IN HARMONY) - So all the` all the description words are the harmonies. - That's it. - ALL SING: # Whanau ko te au marie. - Oh, you sound like a Matatini team. - Oh, sheesh, we've gotta change it from Matatini to kata tini. Everyone'll be laughing at us. - Yeah, they'll be kata tini, eh. - Uh... I could hear Tamale next to me, and he was going off, and then Jana was` cos she was lead two, she was fine. Then you can kind of hear Cullen almost try and take over like Luther Vandross. So I was just like, 'Oh, I think he needs to bring it down a little bit.' - A little bit more volume, a little bit more wairua. - OK. - I don't feel like the whanau will feel the aroha yet, hey? (LAUGHTER) Give them some aroha. (PLAYS GUITAR) And ` go. ALL SING: # Whanau ko te aroha. - I'm loving this waiata. And I know that there's gonna come a time where I'm going to tangi when I share this waiata with others. # Ko murimuri aroha # kei raro. - ALL: # Whanau ko te aroha. # Whanau ko te ngakau tu ahau. - Pere, the way he teaches, we felt like we were getting ready for Matatini. He was not mucking around, and it really was awesome. # Whanau ko te au marie. I hope the song provides... some calmness, and I think it's just another way to help heal mamae and pouri during a time of grief. - # Ko murimuri aroha # kei raro. #