Indigenous Cultures and Post-Mortem Photography

This paper explores the differences between Maori and Samoan approaches to post-mortem photography. This paper will show that Maori consider the notion of post-mortem photography as offensive, while for some Samoans, post-mortem photography is acceptable. This article emerges due to the scarcity of research on post-mortem photography in Indigenous communities. We analyze the underlying beliefs of these communities in relation to post-mortem photography. As two researchers from these communities, we call upon our ancestral and academic knowledge to tell this story.