KEY POINTS:
Life in the heartland of Ngati Porou goes on as normal for the McMenamin family despite the furore surrounding their decision to bring Tina Marshall-McMenamin's body to her ancestral land.
The 25-year-old died on Monday of a drug overdose.
Her funeral was to be held with her maternal family in Carterton before her cremation yesterday, but in a move that shocked some her father Eugene took the body to her marae on the East Coast where her tangi was held on Wednesday morning.
Ms Marshall-McMenamin was buried on whanau land later that day in Rangitukia.
Speaking to the Weekend Herald from his farm at Whakawhitira, near Ruatoria, Tina's grandfather, Charlie McMenamin, said they had still not received a High Court injunction which was reportedly being sent to them for the body's exhumation.
One News reported last night that the Ministry of Health had granted a licence to exhume the body.
In the meantime the family, whom relatives describe as "humble, hardworking and very nice people", say they have tasks at home to complete.
"We are not sitting around waiting for things to happen, life has to move on - I have animals to feed and stock to move today," said Mr McMenamin.
"We heard earlier that the High Court injunction was coming here but we still haven't seen it so at this stage we are just waiting for the next action to take its course."
The McMenamin family said they still had not received any word from their in-laws despite employing the services of a mediator.
Waynne McMenamin, the brother of Eugene, told the Weekend Herald an offer had been made to the family to come to the tangi.
"We offered the use of some vehicles to them to come up with us but we never heard back," he said.
"Again, we are more than willing to talk with the family to discuss things, they have my number."
Mr McMenamin said the family were frustrated by their in-laws, who allegedly took more than two hours to arrive at the funeral home in Lower Hutt.
Eastern district area commander Inspector Waata Shepherd said Gisborne police had not received an exhumation order from the High Court. "Nothing at all has happened and we have been given no new information."
Mr Shepherd said the case was a first for him in the area and it was difficult to say what was likely to happen next. "It's really up to the family as to where things go from here."
Ten times harder without body, says grieving widow
Christchurch woman Denise Clarke knows what it is like to mourn without a body.
"It's a lot harder, 10 times harder," she said yesterday.
Ms Clarke, whose partner James Takamore's body was taken by his whanau and buried in the eastern Bay of Plenty without her consent, said she felt a huge degree of sympathy for the maternal family of Carterton woman Tina Marshall-McMenamin.
"It's just devastating that it's happened again. It's one of the worst things you can go through."
Ms Clarke is still hoping to get back the body of her partner of 25 years almost four months after he died, but said discussions with his whanau had so far proved fruitless.
"We're in negotiations, that's all I can say, really, because there is nothing to say."
In early October, she and her children travelled to Kutarere, where her partner is buried, to see the grave and hold talks with the whanau.
"We didn't really want to see the family, but we did want to get our point across. There was discussion from our side of the family, but nothing from theirs."
The whanau have refused to relinquish the body, saying the burial was in keeping with Maori tikanga (custom) and Mr Takamore was now in a wahi tapu (sacred place).
Ms Clarke understood they saw the issue as resolved - but in her mind it was far from over.
"None of this should have happened. It should've all been stopped before he even got up north."
Ms Clarke obtained a court order banning burial by the whanau immediately after Mr Takamore's body was taken from Christchurch, and later gained an exhumation order.
She blames police for failing to enforce either order and said in Ms Marshall-McMenamin's case they had again been too slow.
She had heard of another case in Invercargill since her partner's death where burial was reportedly stopped by opposing family members placing a tree trunk over the grave.
"Something needs to be legalised to stop this happening. Something has to be done. It just can't keep happening because there is only one law, [or there is] supposed to be. There shouldn't be one for Maoris and one for Pakehas."
Ms Clarke said Ms Marshall-McMenamin's paternal family had acted in the same way as her partner's whanau.
"They think they have the right to just come along and take the body, and it's just the sneaky way they do it. It's just terrible and they intimidate you. It is theft."
Takamore whanau spokeswoman Tania McCormack did not want to comment yesterday, saying the family was in the middle of another bereavement.
- Juliet Rowan
