Water ceremony was 'weird'

Last updated 16:03 18/05/2009

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CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post Zoom

Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, is jointly charged with the manslaughter of Janet Moses.

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Family of Janet Moses "kind of celebrated" when she vomited during a ceremony to rid her of a curse, a jury has heard.

Ms Moses' cousin Ivan Wharepapa said he took the vomiting to be her spitting out the demon.

Mr Wharepapa was giving evidence today in the third week of the Wellington High Court trial of nine people - including his own parents Aroha and Hall Wharepapa - charged with Ms Moses' manslaughter.

She died on October 12, 2007, when the Crown says she drowned as a result of the accused pouring water into her mouth and over her face during a ceremony to "cleanse" her.

Mr Wharepapa said she had been acting strangely for days, not responding when spoken to. At first he thought she was sick and then he believed she had a Maori curse or makutu on her.

About 40 people gathered in a one-bedroom Wainuiomata flat to perform the ceremony.

Mr Wharepapa said he did not understand the use of the water.

"I just thought it was weird."

Earlier today, an expert in Tainui iwi culture told the jury that the water-based cleansing ceremony was misguided, misinformed and mistaken.

Dr Tui Adams said Ms Moses' family had done the right thing in consulting a kaumatua in October 2007 when her behaviour led them to believe she was affected by a makutu or curse.

The actions of the kaumatua in blessing her and returning a lion statue that was believed to be associated with the curse were correct but after the kaumatua left the family started a process that had no cultural basis and was totally foreign to Dr Adams.

He told the jury that he did not think she had a makutu but the crux of the matter was whether the family genuinely thought she did.

Six members of the Rawiri whanau are charged with Ms Moses' manslaughter. The partners of three of the whanau are also charged.

Dr Adams said the Rawiri whanau was large and originally came from Waikato, the Tainui tribal area.

THE ACCUSED

* Nine members of Janet Moses' extended family are charged with her manslaughter, which the Crown alleges was the result of an attempt to remove a curse a makutu or evil spirit.

* The accused are: John Tahana Rawiri, 49, Georgina Aroha Rawiri, 50, Aroha Gwendoline Wharepapa, 48, Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, Tanginoa Apanui, 42, Angela Rangiaroha Orupe, 46, Gaylene Tangiohorere Kepa, 44, Alfred Hughes Kepa, 48, and Glenys Lynette Wright, 52. All are siblings of Ms Moses' mother, or their partners.

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* Two people, whose names are suppressed, are charged with cruelty to a 14-year-old girl in their care.

* The charges date from October 12, 2007, at Wainuiomata, when the Crown alleges Ms Moses and several others were subjected to a water-based ceremony resulting in Ms Moses drowning.

- © Fairfax NZ News