Burial of James Takamore

The burial of James Takamore was a bicultural family conflict and legal precedent in New Zealand, reflecting the tension between Māori tikanga and English-based common law. James Takamore was born into the Whakatohea and Tūhoe iwi in the Bay of Plenty but lived as a Pākehā with his Pākehā wife in Christchurch, returning to the North Island only twice in 20 years and expressing to third parties his non-identification as Māori. A dispute arose whether he should be buried in Christchurch, as his wife intended, or in the traditional urupa (burial ground) of his family.

The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the common law principle that the executor of a deceased person's will had both the right and the duty to dispose of the deceased. The conflict was eventually resolved after court mediation in Christchurch though the details of the settlement have not been made public.

After his sudden death of an aneurysm in 2007, a dispute arose as to where he should be buried. Ngāi Tūhoe custom requires individuals bodies be returned to family urupa (burial site). Takamore had expressed a wish to be buried in Christchurch. His wife and executor of his will, Denise Clarke, also wished him to be buried in Christchurch.

The Takamore whānau travelled south to Christchurch for the tangihanga which was to be held at Te Whare Roimata marae in Christchurch. Prior to the tangi, there was a confrontation at the funeral parlour, in which the Takamore whānau expressed a wish to return Takamore to his ancestral home; after the confrontation grew heated Clarke left. The Takamore whānau took the body north to the family urupa at Kutarere, in eastern Bay of Plenty. Clarke obtained a court order barring burial, but police arriving to enforce the court order found the burial already in progress and did not enforce it. The rationale given for burying in the urupa included:

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