100 people gather at burial
Bubble-breaking tangi held for man who died during the level four lockdown
A grieving family say they could not stop about 100 people from gathering at a tangi to farewell a greatly-loved marae speaker.
Yesterday, the Brennan family buried husband, brother, father and grandfather Jimmy Brennan at a graveyard in Tuahiwi, north of Christchurch.
Koroheke Pohomare Honore Brennan, known as Jimmy, died at his Christchurch home on March 29, aged 63, after a diagnosis of terminal liver cancer.
Under alert level three restrictions, families can have up to 10 people present at a tangi or funeral. The rules are in place to try to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Dave Brennan said he was disappointed about 100 people turned up to his brother’s burial despite the family making it clear in social media posts that only 10 chosen wha¯ nau should go and others could watch a livestream on social media.
‘‘What was really hard was that they were all there for Jim . . . somehow it got out and next thing there were people everywhere.’’ At one stage, he asked some people to keep their distance, and he worried police would arrive. ‘‘I made it clear I’ve done my best, what can I do? I couldn’t tell them to go home.’’
Dave Brennan said his son and wife did not attend the tangi to observe the rules. ‘‘[They] were really close [to Jimmy] and I said ‘no, stay home and watch it on the livestream’, which they did.’’
Brennan said his brother was widely loved in the community. ‘‘He was just a really popular guy and I don’t think we will be unique in that respect either – you know when you get out to little villages and marae around the country people are going to come out and you’re going to see more and more come out.’’
The family had Jimmy Brennan’s body embalmed and stored at Academy Funerals in Upper Riccarton in the hope a full tangi could be held when Covid-19 restrictions eased.
But after visiting him at the funeral home this week, his wife, Mary Brennan, his siblings and his children decided it was time to say goodbye. ‘‘They thought we can’t keep him there, he needs to move on. If we get him to the pa¯ he can rest in peace,’’ Dave Brennan said.
Another consideration was the uncertainty over what level two restrictions would allow, he said. ‘‘We know when it does come, social distancing is going to be a very big part of it.’’
The family had carefully prepared for a tight-knit tangi that would honour Jimmy Brennan while sticking to the level three rules. Choosing just 10 people to attend the burial at Tuahiwi Urupa¯ was ‘‘painstaking’’, his brother said.
Brennan was one of six siblings and had six children with Mary. The couple had 18 grandchildren.
Dave Brennan said a possible solution would be to appoint Ma¯ori wardens to support grieving wha¯ nau, provide crowd control and reach out to those who could not attend a tangi to help them through the process.
He advised grieving wha¯ nau to wait until level one so they would not have to cope with such strict restrictions. ‘‘At level two the problem will still occur, families will continue to find themselves in the uncomfortable position of turning wha¯ nau and friends away.’’
Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand president Gary Taylor said under level two, the number of people allowed at a funeral or tangi should be left up to funeral directors. Taylor said most families who had a death during the lockdown had chosen to have their loved one cremated immediately and planned to hold a memorial service later.
Associate Minister of Health (Ma¯ ori) Peeni Henare said the gathering was ‘‘disappointing’’ and ‘‘clear’’ breach of the rules, which had been worked through and agreed on by Ma¯ ori.
‘‘I know this is hard, and not the way we usually hold tangi, but this is about protecting our wha¯ nau and we need everyone to follow the rules.
‘‘The last thing we want is an outbreak of Covid in Ma¯ ori communities,’’ he said.
‘‘... somehow it got out and next thing there were people everywhere.’’
Dave Brennan Grieving brother