Urupā Tautaiao: Natural Burials and Māori Environmental Stewardship
Date
Authors
McNeill, Hinematau Naomi
Mehana, Sonia Ngahuia
Frewen, Kathleen Ripeka
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
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Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract
This study considers how adopting natural green burial practices can create pathways to a more sustainable future strongly rooted in Māori culture and ethics. Interviews were conducted with twenty-five Māori participants from diverse iwi (tribal) affiliations to investigate the feasibility of environmentally sustainable Māori mortuary and burial practices. Thematic analysis of the interviews highlighted three main areas of concern; impact of modern burials on environmental degradation framed through kaitiakitanga, (environmental guardianship), revival of pre-colonial practices and unaffordability of contemporary tangihanga (customary funerals). Urupā tautaiao (natural burials) emerge as a model reimagining precolonial death burial practices for the modern world. In doing so, it challenges the extractive logics of the post-colonial death industry and reactivates the moral, spiritual, and communal frameworks of environment care.Description
Keywords
death practices, decolonisation, environmental sustainability, indigeneity, 52 Psychology, 5203 Clinical and Health Psychology, 5201 Applied and Developmental Psychology, 1701 Psychology
Source
Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, ISSN: 0030-2228 (Print); 1541-3764 (Online), SAGE Publications, 302228261452887-. doi: 10.1177/00302228261452887
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© The Author(s) 2026. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0)
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).