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Story: Tangihanga – death customs

Tombs and memorials

  • Mausoleum of Waitohi, the sister of Te Rauparaha, Mana Island

  • Carved monument for three children, Te Awaiti, Cloudy Bay

  • Waka maumahara at an island pā, Tory Channel

  • Waka maumahara, Te Awaiti, Cloudy Bay

  • Pou whakairo (carved figure) at a pā near Lake Rotoaira with an elevated whata for holding the bones of a dead child

These tombs and memorials from around New Zealand, including waka maumahara and pou whakairo, were painted in the 1840s by George French Angas.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0014-50

by George French Angas

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Rawinia Higgins, Tangihanga – death customs – The tangihanga process, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/28788/tombs-and-memorials (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Rawinia Higgins, published 3 May 2011.