The Gravedigger of Kapu

Libby Hakaraia
2018-10-18

“You can handle a shovel - but can you handle the truth?”
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16 min

Hone is the last of the old time gravediggers. He links the living with the dead. He is the keeper of their secrets. Tana is Hone’s apprentice who respects his uncle and doesn’t mind the physical work. However he finds the spiritual side of the job unnerving. Hone worries that Tana may not be able to pick up the role of the gravedigger and all that it entails. A series of incidents in the urupa (graveyard) lead them to both make final decisions.