Résumé
Chez les Māori de Nouvelle-Zélande Aotearoa, les funérailles (tangihanga) sont les cérémonies les plus importantes de la vie sociale. Elles permettent aux vivants d’entretenir des relations entre eux et avec leurs ancêtres, en vue d’assurer leur vie, celle du collectif et sa reproduction. Les Māori doivent ainsi pouvoir « identifier » les entités avec lesquelles ils souhaitent entrer en relation dans le respect de l’ordre de préséance qui organise l’espace sociocosmique māori. Pour y parvenir, ils peuvent s’appuyer sur des entités hautement valorisées apparentées à des « trésors ancestraux » tangibles et intangibles transmis de génération en génération, qu’ils nomment taonga. Parmi ceux-ci, « l’art des généalogies » (whakapapa) et les « manteaux prestigieux māori » (kākahu) sont particulièrement mobilisés au cours du cycle des cérémonies funéraires qui facilitent le passage d’une personne du monde des vivants à celui des morts.
Abstract
Title: Māori funerals and the « identification » of the status of ancestors in New Zealand Aotearoa in the 20th and 21st centuries. The uses of functions of māori cloaks (kākahu) during funeral ceremonies
Among the Māori of New Zealand Aotearoa, funerals (tangihanga) are the most prominent ceremonies in social life. They allow the living to maintain relationships with each other and with their ancestors. These relationships are meant to ensure on the one hand their life and on the other hand the life of the community and its reproduction. Therefore, the Māori must be able to "identify" the entities they wish to connect with while respecting the order of precedence that organizes the Māori sociocosmic space. To achieve this, they can rely on highly valued entities called taonga. The taonga are tangible and intangible ancestral treasures handed down from generation to generation. Among these, the art of genealogies (whakapapa) and māori cloaks (kākahu) are particularly useful during the cycle of funeral ceremonies which enables the passage of a person from the world of the living to the world of the dead.
Review of: Trophies, Relics and Curios? Missionary Heritage from Africa and the Pacific, Karen Jacobs, Chantal Knowles and Chris Wingfield (eds) (2015)
Leiden: Sidestone Press, 220 pp.,
ISBN 978 9 08890 271 0 (pbk), €34.95
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