By Dan Parker
In life, Blanketman was a loner, a man who had opted out of society.
But in death he was remembered as Ben Hana, a tragic figure and a man missed by many, including his family.
“Whether you agreed with him or not, he’s just my brother and his kids’ father, and he’s all of your friends,” says his brother Tony Hana.
Watch footage from Blanket Man’s funeral
More than a hundred of those friends came to say goodbye to him, including those he met living rough.
“He was a cannabis advocate, a peace advocate. He didn’t believe in alcohol although he did use it a lot,” says his friend Debbie Leyland.
And the vices which led to much inner conflict were left by his casket, a farewell his family say he would have enjoyed.
His regular spot on Courtenay Place has become a shrine, which the Wellington City Council says it will have to clean up next week.
“I can tell you he did not like rules, he did not like conventions, and on many occassins I’d encourage him to cover up a bit. I said ‘you just have to do that, this is a public place’ and he would look at me and say ‘oh bugger’”, says his lawyer, Maxine Dixon.
Living rough was a choice for Mr Hana but his iwi say they tried to take him in.
“He’d say yes, but he’d be back on the streets the next morning. There wasn’t much to do – he chose that way of living,” says Samuel Jackson of mana Whenua Kaumatua.
And it was that independent spirit which had been with him from an early age.
“When he was about 15 he left school, went out pig hunting one day and forgot to come home,” says his brother, Tony Hana.
Ben Hana was 54 when he died.
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