A Christchurch widow was subjected to a "cultural raid" by her husband's Maori family, who took his body away for burial in the North Island, says the woman's lawyer.
James Takamore, 55, was buried at Kutarere Marae, near Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty in 2007 but his widow Denise Clarke is seeking a court order for him to be reburied in Christchurch.
A civil hearing began in the High Court at Christchurch today to decide whether Maori custom - tikanga Maori - should override the rights and wishes of Mr Takamore's widow, as executor and trustee of his will, and the preference expressed by Mr Takamore himself.
Ms Clarke's case will include evidence that although he had not written it in his will, her husband wanted to be buried in Christchurch, where the family had lived for almost 20 years.
A plot had been arranged for his burial at Ruru Lawn Cemetery in Christchurch.
As well as seeking court orders to allow his reburial in Christchurch, she is seeking orders restraining the defendants, Mr Takamore's family and marae, from taking any steps to stop it.
Ms Clarke's counsel, Phillip Allan, said at the legal level the case was about the extent to which the wishes of a deceased person and the provisions of his will might be overruled by Maori customs and traditions, "in which the deceased played little part in the course of his life".
"At a personal level it is about the plaintiff wishing to do the right thing in respect of her husband's body."
Mr Takamore died of an aneurism in August 2007 and was lying in state at a marae in Christchurch when members of the family demanded that he not be buried in the city, but be taken back to Kutarere, where he was born.
The demand was disputed but while discussions stopped overnight the body was taken away in a van.
Ms Clarke obtained an interim injunction to stop the burial at Kutarere but it arrived too late - the burial service was already under way when the police arrived to serve the injunction.
"Essentially, the family were subjected to a cultural raid which breached the rights of the plaintiff and her children," Mr Allan said.
Ms Clarke gave evidence that when the couple moved south with the birth of their first child in 1985 it caused a rift in the family and her husband had little contact with his family after that.
His Maori heritage was "an understood background rather than a conscious part of daily life" and eventually faded into insignificance, she said.
She said his body had been "taken in circumstances of duress and deceit".
Cross-examined by Moana Tuwhare, for the defendants, she agreed that her own Pakeha heritage was not something she was conscious of on a daily basis either.
She said once Mr Takamore's family arrived after his death everything had been "too rushed".
"The family tried to override everything I said," she said.
The court is packed with onlookers who have filled the public gallery and have been given permission by Justice John Fogarty to sit in the vacant jury box.
The hearing has been set down for three days.
