When fifteen-year-old Janie Taiiringa-Roimata Bennett was diagnosed with a malignant bone cancer, her whānau turned to tikanga Māori to help guide their journey through the trauma of treatment, surgery and recovery, and the grief of losing a limb.
Janie was first diagnosed a year ago with osteosarcoma, a cancer that affects the arms, legs and pelvis, and for her it meant the amputation of her right arm up to her shoulder. The surgery and subsequent treatment took place last year and she has since gone into remission.
A year on, the whānau visited the hospital to take possession of the remains of Janie’s limb in an emotional ceremony.
Mum Heeni Te Mate Kōiwi, whose name was changed from Brown to reflect her daughter’s experience, said it’s been a long road to get to this point.
“He mate pukupuku kei taku tamāhine, he momo māuiui kei taku tamāhine, ana ko te aronga i te nuinga o te wā ko te ora, ko te aro ki tōna ora. He ao hou tēnei te haere ki te tiki i ngā ringaringa, te tiki i te ringaringa o taku tamāhine.”
(“My daughter has cancer — a rare condition — and our focus has primarily been on her survival, focusing on her life. This is a new experience, retrieving my daughter’s arm.”)
Their whānau response to Janie’s diagnosis has been to delve into their whakapapa, history and traditions to formulate a way to process their grief and guide their daughter’s healing.
They did research into personal whānau records, iwi traditions, indigenous practices and scientific methods, said Heeni.
“He nui tonu ngā kōrero mō te kōiwi, nā reira i te wā mōhio nei mātou he māuiui kōiwi i taku tamāhine, i te mōhio mātou me tūwhera te ngākau, me whai wāhi atu ki ētahi huarahi kāhore anō pea kia tino rangona.”
(“There’s a vast body of knowledge about bones. So, when we learned my daughter had a bone disease, we knew we had to open our hearts and explore paths not often spoken about.”)
They found comfort and relief in karakia, creating their own and collating them into a book.
Heeni and her longtime partner Phil Te Riu Kōiwi (formerly Phil Bennett) wed and took new names to pay tribute to their daughter’s experience – an age-old Māori custom.
Picking up the remains of Janie’s limb is another milestone in their journey forward.
Heeni, Janie and three other whānau members were welcomed by hospital staff with a private whakatau, and karakia and waiata took place around the box containing the remains of Janie’s limb. During the final karakia, Heeni and one of Janie’s younger sisters draped the box with a kahu huruhuru in preparation for transferring into their vehicle.
“Ko te mahi ināianei ko te hoki ki te kāinga, he mahi i ngā mahi e tika ana kia poua ko ngā ārainga ki tēnei taonga.”
(“The next step is to return home and carry out the proper rituals and protective processes for this taonga.”)
She said they will eventually bury the bones but only after they hold discussions with Janie.
“Nō taku tamāhine kē ēnei. Ko te āta whawhewhawhe, ko te āta kōrerorero, ko te āta wānanga me ia, he aha pea te huarahi e tau ai whatumanawa o taku tamāhine ki tēnei wahanga ōna.”
(“[These bones] belong to my daughter, [and] it’s about gently holding, gently talking, gently discussing with her to find a way she can be at peace with this part of herself.”)
Heeni is a former journalist and is documenting their whānau journey as they navigate their way through the process of healing. She will be sharing more of their story via Te Karere over the coming weeks in a six-part series called Te Kawa Ora.
Glossary
tikanga Māori – Māori customs and protocols
whakapapa – genealogy
whakatau – a welcoming ceremony, less formal than a pōwhiri
kahu huruhuru – ceremonial cloak made of feathers
