RITES AND CUSTOMS RELATING TO THE DEAD. 219 
formed by two pieces of an old canoe, standing about six 
feet high, and forming a hollow place, in which the corpse 
was seated on a grating, to allow the flesh, as it decomposed, 
to fall through ; after a certain time the skeleton was 
removed, and the bones scraped, this was the Ngapuhi cus- 
tom. In the south, where the body was interred, the first 
rukutanga tupajoaku , or digging up of the corpse, took place 
about four weeks after the nehunga, or burial, when a feast 
was made by the relations and friends of the deceased; on 
this occasion the tohunga extracted two or more molar 
teeth of the corpse, which he tied to a small stick or fern 
stalk, and laid upon the food, which was prepared for the 
oven, this was called te umu o te pera, or the oven of the 
putrified flesh.* The first oven was tapued for the tohunga ; 
the second for the guests ; while the teeth laid on the food, 
a long karakia was repeated over them ; afterwards the 
ornaments of the corpse, which had been buried with it, 
consisting of shark's teeth or green stone, were removed, 
and worn by the relatives, for the ceremony appears to have 
been chiefly intended to wakanoa, or take off the tapu from 
the body, that the ornaments might be again used ; when 
the ceremony was over the teeth were bored, and worn as 
ear ornaments by the nearest relative ; the body was then 
wrapped up in a fine mat, and re-interred. 
After two years the bones were again dug up ; this was 
called te Ruku-tanga tuarua, or the ivakanoa-tanga tuarua, 
when the hahunga, or scrapiug of the bones, took place ; 
this being considered an indispensable duty to the remains 
of chiefs ; all the friends and relatives of the dead were sum- 
moned to assist, and a great feast given on the occasion ; 
the bones when scraped were painted red, and ornamented 
with feathers, they were then carefully wrapped up in a fine 
mat, which was also surrounded with several others; this 
being done, the sacred bundle was deposited in a small canoe, 
which was elevated on a pole, or in a miniature house, simi- 
larly raised up, or else the bones were carried to the top of 
some sacred tree, and there left on a small stage ; sometimes 
* Psalm cviii. 28 — “ And ate the sacrifices of the dead. 
