© 2025 WGLT
A public service of Illinois State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Maori Mourning

Eliza Bidois is a Maori writer from Rotorua, New Zealand. After the death of her sister this year, she experienced the three day traditional Maori wake that takes place in the central space of the Maori village, the Marai. During the three days the family slept next to her sister's coffin inside the ancestral house---they cared for the body, sang traditional songs---and in the end were reassured that her sister was in a better place.

Copyright 1996 NPR