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5206
qualitative
book
Shushan, Gregory, Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions, Oxford University Press, Chapter 4, Te Atarahi, Pages Not Specified, 2018
Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions, Te Atarahi, Chapter 4, 2018
1850
2018
M
Te Atarahi, a Maori man, died from an unspecified cause and remained lifeless for five full days before unexpectedly reviving, an extended death period that removed all doubt he had truly been among the dead. Upon revival, he was physically altered, having lost all his hair and being extremely emaciated, though he eventually recovered his health. Once well enough to speak, he recounted how he had been in the Reinga (underworld) where he was met by his deceased relatives. These ancestral spirits immediately intervened, gathering around him and explicitly bidding him not to touch the food of the afterlife, then authoritatively sending him back to the land of Light. His return was not his choice but a direct command from family in the spirit world. He spoke of the excellence of the state in which the people of the Reinga dwelt. His story became a key piece of evidence for Maori understanding of the afterlife, with its consistency over decades across different tellings indicating its authoritative status. Nearly forty years later, an almost identical version was recorded, confirming that Maori beliefs about the afterlife were directly informed by such experiences. Te Atarahi's NDE served as living testament to a pleasant afterlife, the active role of ancestors, and the possibility of being sent back from death.
6
Unknown
2
5
7
Weak Evidence
0
Five days dead, physical changes upon return (hair loss, emaciation)
General description of excellent afterlife state, ancestral meeting
written_account
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8/9/2025
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