Ra¯hui lifted on Taranaki Maunga
As rescue crews worked to remove the bodies of two climbers from Taranaki Maunga at sunrise last Thursday, karanga, karakia and waiata rang out.
Iwi members had gathered at the maunga to acknowledge the deaths of Christchurch men Richard Phillips, 46, and Peter Kirkwood, 33.
The cultural ceremony, attended by about 30 people, including members of the rescue operation and Department of Conservation (DOC) staff, was also carried out to establish a ra¯hui on the southern area where the men died.
The week-long ra¯hui, a temporary ritual prohibition, concluded yesterday and another iwiled ceremony will take place at the maunga today to formally acknowledge this.
Te Poihi Campbell, coordinator of the cultural process that took place in wake of the deaths, believed it was the first time a ra¯hui had been placed on Taranaki
Maunga, despite more than
80 people having died on its slopes.
‘‘Post-settlements have allowed the iwi to be more engaged with DOC,’’
Campbell said. This strengthened relationship has resulted in better recognition of te ao Ma¯ori customs, such as ra¯hui, he said.
The maunga has inherited tapu, and iwi had to oversee the increased level of tapu, which in this context Campbell explained meant sensitivity, that had transpired due to the deaths.
‘‘A tragedy had happened which triggered us to manage the tainted tapu that’s happened on the mountain and so we have used this mechanism, which is a ra¯hui, to address this. The ra¯hui is really acknowledging that something has happened and that we need to put an extra layer of tapu on the particular area.’’
Because the deaths happened near the summit, people were discouraged from traversing this area and there were further restrictions in the lower reaches, he said. ‘‘There was movement down the bottom but it was encouraged for those to be more discrete in their mahi.’’
Colleagues Phillips and Kirkwood died shortly after reaching the summit on Tuesday last week.
Their bodies were recovered near a track that leads to Syme Hut, in a place climbers would not usually be, about 8am on the Thursday.
Iwi leaders were told immediately of the tragedy, which allowed for a cultural response to be quickly formulated.
South Taranaki iwi Nga¯ti Ruanui and Nga¯ruahine, whose tribal boundaries blanket the vicinity of the maunga where the incident happened, took the lead, Campbell said.
‘‘When I engaged with my people from Nga¯ti Ruanui and Nga¯ruahine, the first conversation was ‘OK, we need a process’ and we decided ,yes, the process is to put the ra¯hui on a couple of the areas of the maunga.’’
Iwi then collaborated with DOC, which fronted the public with information.
While a ra¯hui can’t be enforced, Campbell said most people took heed of the restrictions.
‘‘I think our nation’s growing more appreciation to observing these concepts . . . at the end of the day it comes down to values, people can make up their own minds.’’
But Campbell said if a ra¯hui is transgressed, there can be spiritual and cultural consequences. ‘‘The potential is there.’’
Karanga, karakia and waiata will again be heard at the maunga, when iwi meet to conclude the ra¯hui today.
The cultural team will then work to review the process, Campbell said, adding the public could expect levels of ra¯hui on the maunga should another tragedy take place.