The Maori of New Zealand have shown vigorous persistence in maintaining their cultural differences. This resistance to change reinvents the Tangihanga's importance. In present times, this mourning ceremony emphasizes the following core values: socialization, reciprocity, gender stratification, support, and solidarity.

Socially, this ceremony emphasizes the gender stratification, unity, mobilization, and communication. Through gender stratification, men and women have clear roles. The men are expected to be strong and fierce, as seen in their war cries as visitors enter. The women, however, serve as symbols of grief and welcoming. The women are also not allowed to participate in certain roles, seen by the male chief, his male associates, and the male warriors. However, this all passes away through equal participation in the ceremony, such as in the group dances. This celebration exists to allow all to join together, mourn together, and put aside their differences to support the bereaving family. The unity of these people is seen here, as well their need to communicate. The Tangihanga, like any ritual, serves as a medium of  “communicating core symbolic forms and passing traditional cultural information from one generation to the next” (Rozen 2004). The Maori need this ceremony so that they can see family and friends again, reaffirm their connections, and introduce their children to Maori people and culture. This enculturation, of learning one's culture, is present as the children are instructed how to behave and through their observations of the ceremony.

Economically, the ceremony enforces reciprocity, a system of forming bonds through reciprocal giving and receiving. It is seen when the chief accepts the visitor's gift, but then immediately shares it with the surrounding men.  He keeps none for himself, trying to make an example of the importance in generosity. Reciprocity is not just enforced between the Maori, but with the visitors, thus guaranteeing a lasting relationship.

Psychologically, this ceremony provides the required mourning to vent a person's grief. In a tangihanga, men and women cry without shame or embarrassment. Also important is the sense of peace a person obtains through the ceremony. This occurs through discussions not just about the person, but last words to the deceased. Maori and visitors talk to the deceased as the Maori believe a person's soul remains in the body for three days before the final journey (to eternity)..  A third psychological need this ceremony quenches is a call for comfort. The greatest element of this ceremony is how it brings all the people together, providing a social network and support of friends and family.

The most important interpretation behind the tangihanga is the political implications. Politically, the tangihanga revitalizes solidarity and dissonance. This ceremony, today especially, provides for “group solidarity and an affirmation of central values” (Oppenheim 1973: 22). A great stress is placed on unity and culture. The focus is no longer on the rigid requirements of the ceremony, but instead on the opportunity for gathering this minority together, reuniting friends and family, and reaffirming Maori culture. The Maori use this ceremony to resist pressures of the majority influence. In clarification, it is a symbol of two ideas: “cultural dissonance,” a discontinuity between the Maori culture and that of the majority, and defensive solidarity that maintains a Maori “social identity” (Oppenheim 1973: 26).

Solidarity is created through many aspects. Group prayer, or the women's songs, is one example (Rozen 2004). The event of the tangihanga contributes, as a connection is built between those who create and hold the ceremony and those who take part.  This reconstitutes the Maori as a people. The Maori reaffirm their culture as they reunite with family members, meet long lost relations, and introduce their children to the adults (Merelman 1998) . Old ties are tightened. Yet there is a negative connotation behind solidarity, as it also reaffirms cultural dissonance. In other words, as the tangihanga defines who Maori is, the ceremony also clearly defines outsiders. Through uses of descent in Maori families, the participants “differentiate between in-groups and out-groups” ( Meijl 1999). Therefore, through this ceremony, the political goals are to establish boundaries of Maori culture and identify outsiders ( Steward 2003) .

The Tangihanga ceremony has lost no importance in the Maori world, providing socialization, communication, reaffirmation, economic roles, psychological comfort, and political declarations of solidarity. With the opposition against the Maori, it is remarkable they have kept this ceremony alive. Even with erosions of their past traditions, it can be said that a new appreciation of everything Maori exists today.  Seen through museum exhibits, classes on the Maori language and culture, exports of Maori crafts, and the practice of the tangihanga, the Maori people are not decreasing in importance or losing their heritage. Instead they are developing a new collective consciousness that is spreading beyond their descendants.