Witi Ihimaera

An evocative collection of short stories revolving around Māori traditions and values in a modern setting, told from various points of view in a small town. The pride and underlying love in community is at constant - and perhaps a losing - struggle with the slow disconnect of the young people to their culture as Pākehā influences overwhelm their lives. It presents the reality and evolution of indigenous cultures in today's world with matter-of-fact clarity, not pessimistically nor show more optimistically. Another great addition to Māori literature. show less

The thorny issue of dealing with the contested past is very much with us at the moment, and colonised peoples all over the world are delving into their stories of the past with fresh perspectives. Most of what I’ve read has been from Australia’s Indigenous authors, but I’ve also read stories from countries in Africa and the Americas, and from Ireland and the Indian subcontinent.
Over all, honest storytelling about the past seems like a good thing to me — it tells a different truth to show more the truth that is in the history books and the documented record, enabling us to re-evaluate what we think we know. But along with truth which may lead to restitution and justice and healing, storytelling can also pass on resentment and anger and a desire for vengeance, from generation to generation. It can pass on negative stereotypes about the actors of the past, in unexpected ways. Honest storytelling is not always an unmitigated good. Sometimes, IMO, it is better to let the past rest.
Witi Ihimaera’s award-winning novel The Matriarch is an odyssey into New Zealand colonial history and its brutal wars, and it’s written in a way that was innovative for its time, blending fiction with Maori myths and with documented history. Contrary to my expectations, I did not enjoy reading it. Not because it’s confronting to read about unpalatable truths in any country’s history, but because I disagree profoundly with the way the author justifies violence.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/07/11/the-matriarch-the-mahana-family-1-by-witi-ih... show less

I found The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera an emotionally touching and inspired read. The book delves into the myth of how the Maori ancestors came to New Zealand, as well as other aspects of the Maori culture and mythology. Setting his story in modern times, he also wrote this book to appeal to his daughters who had complained that so many stories featured boys as the heroes.

As narrated by her uncle, we learn of Kahu, the first grandchild of her generation. She is cherished by everyone in the show more extended family except her grandfather, whom she greatly loves but who has no time for females. But after a traumatic episode of whales beaching themselves and dying, Kahu demonstrates that she has the gift to communicate with the giant creatures and she helps to restore one ancient giant to the ocean by using the revered tradition of riding the whale out to sea. As Kahu demonstrates her empowerment and overcomes the subtle resentment that her grandfather had directed at her, I was brought to tears.

Written in a poetic style and highlighted with Maori words (for which there is a glossary at the end of the book), I found The Whale Rider to be both a soothing and powerful read. Although marketed as a YA read, I think this book might appeal more to adults than to children. The Whale Rider is a magical book that I highly recommend. show less

This is a beautifully told, fable-like story that has moments of breathtaking loveliness and terrible pain. Little Kahu disappoints her great grandfather severely when she is born: as the first child of the oldest grandchild, she is supposed to be a boy to continue the sacred and traditional leadership of her Maori tribe. From the time that she is a baby, she exhibits preternatural wisdom, maturity, and kinship with whales, said to be primordially connected to the Maori. Kahu devotes her show more life to her grandfather, who pushes her gruffly to the side until her fateful 8th year, when her gifts emerge to save an ancient whale AND her people. The story weaves Maori history and mythology with more modern issues of racism, discrimination, and conflict between the old ways and the modern world.

Curriculum: this book would be a great addition to a secondary-level multi-cultural mythology class or unit. How are the myths of the world similar and different?

Ihimaera, W. (2003). The whale rider. Orlando: Harcourt. show less