Reviews

Book Reviews

MATA TOA: THE LIFE and TIMES OF RANGINUI WALKER

By Paul Spoonley

Published by Penguin

RRP $40

Review nā Donald Couch

Kei hea te Tangata? This is a biography which requires, and rewards, patience and persistence. There are sections where the reader will wonder whatever happened to Ranginui Walker?

Author Paul Spoonley, and his editor, obviously decided that the story of Walker's life is, in large part, the story of the times in which he lived. This is doubly interesting because for the past 40 or so years, Walker was not only largely responsible for communicating with the wider New Zealand public just what was happening in terms of Māori, but he also played a major role in many of those events.

Another reviewer has referred to him as a Colossus of Rhodes. One might therefore expect most biographers to provide detailed review and comment on the options Walker faced, and what he did and why. But Spoonley's approach is to be more descriptive than analytical.

Walker was raised in a rural warm loving whānau where the everyday language was te reo. But then he went to school, learned new things, moved away, developed different values, almost lost his ability in te reo, and determined that his future lay in the Pākehā world.

This is the story of a successful urban Māori. One of the first Māori PhDs when there was only a handful. A father of three children who all became medical doctors. Then when the career was established, he turned to Māori involvement, but with Māori in the cities – where 80 per cent of Māori are.

Walker never forgot his hapū and iwi roots, and he rebuilt his facility in te reo and tikanga. But much later, when he went back to contribute to Whakatōhea affairs, he found it very hard going and probably disillusioning. Although he was not generally a supporter of Māori leadership through iwi, he did send a copy of his Ngata biography to Tā Tipene O'Regan acknowledging that given his own difficulties with the six Whakatōhea hapū, he complimented Tipene in bringing together the disparate groups within Ngāi Tahu.

Donald Couch is Pro-Chancellor of Lincoln University and deputy kaiwhakahaere of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

But perhaps the wider importance of this book to Ngāi Tahu is that it may suggest the future for many more of our whānui. The majority of Ngāi Tahu now live outside our rohe. Most live in cities. According to the latest Census, more Ngāi Tahu live in Auckland (and also Wellington) than in Otago or Murihiku. The ties to the marae are weakening.

There are already a significant number of Ngāi Tahu who, with their families live the Ranginui Walker life, and there will be many more in the years ahead. What are the implications for our iwi?

BENEATH THE MāORI MOON

By Malcolm Mulholland

Published by Huia

RRP: $60

Review nā Tāne Norton

Māori rugby is something quite distinct in New Zealand's national game. It brings out the best in those who are able to participate in it. This is an excellent book. Well illustrated, it examines in detail what has been a wonderful century of Māori rugby. Malcolm Mulholland points out that Māori have regularly played rugby the way that it should be played. Results are important to any Māori rugby player, but the primary focus is always on how you play the game. In 1973, along with Billy Bush, I asked All Blacks coach J.J. Stewart if we could play for the Māori team against the All Blacks. I cannot remember now why we did this, but undoubtedly our love for the Māori game influenced us.

The spirit of the Māori team was always strong. No Māori team I played in went anywhere without a guitar.

Tāne Norton (Ngāi Tahu) played 27 consecutive tests for the All Blacks, his first against the Lions in 1971. Born in Waikari, North Canterbury, Tāne resides in Christchurch.

It will not only be a terrific reminder for those of us lucky to have played Māori rugby, but for anyone who loves our great game. Like Māori rugby, it will quickly become a national treasure, and I commend the author for it.

TE KARAKA has a copy of Beneath the Māori Moon to give away. The winner will be chosen from contributors to the Letters page.

 

TOI ORA: ANCESTRAL MāORI TREASURES

Edited by Arapata Hakiwai and Hūhana Smith

Published by Te Papa Press

RRP $49.99

Review nā Rob Tipa

This beautiful publication gives readers a privileged glimpse into the collection of close to 35,000 taonga Māori held by Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum of New Zealand, on our behalf.

The taonga selected date back almost 1000 years to the earliest human settlement of Aotearoa. As the editors explain, taonga have a mauri (life force) that carries the mana of those who created them and of those people who used them, valued them and passed them on as family heirlooms, to future generations.

Rob Tipa (Ngāi Tahu) is a career journalist and a regular TE KARAKA contributor.

Ranging from strictly functional to absolutely fabulous, the items include rare ivory and stone pendants, exquisite woodcarving, rough fish hooks, delicate musical instruments, weapons of war and the finest woven ceremonial cloaks. Few people today would have the skills to match the finesse and artistry of these treasures, even with modern tools.

Toi Ora is superbly presented with straightforward text, sharp photographs, historical pictures and colourful stories that link taonga with the families or regions they came from. This unique blend of text, images and connections makes Toi Ora a treasure in itself.

THE FORGOTTEN TANIWHA/TE TANI WHAWAREWARETIA

By Robyn Kahukiwa; English translation by Kiwa Hammond

Published by Penguin

RRP $18

Review nā Fern Whitau

The Forgotten Taniwha tells of a kaitiaki, guardian, taniwha and what happens when he is forgotten. Ngākau Pono, Loyal Heart, has existed since the beginning of time and his mission is to help and protect the people of his pā. In return he has the respect and love of his iwi.

All goes well until strangers arrive in Aotearoa and Ngākau Pono finds himself out of work, so he curls up and sleeps. In the present day, something special causes him to wake again – you will have to read this wonderful book to find out what.

Fern Whitau hails from Moeraki and is a taua who loves to read to her mokopuna.

My five-year-old mokopuna loved the book from its first reading. It's one of her favourites and we still eagerly turn the pages. The sad title and taniwha pictured on the cover piqued our interest, showing how Robyn Kahukiwa's illustrations entice and delight.

The poignant tale touches on stories that have been handed down about when gods walked the earth and the first people arrived in Aotearoa. It reminds us not to forget how things were once done.

Album Reviews

WANDERING PATHS

Harriet and the Matches

Self release (Real Groovy Records, Slowboat Records, Wellington)

RRP $25

Review nā Joseph Tipa

Harriet and the Matches are singer/songwriters Jessie Moss and Amiria Grenell. They met in Christchurch and after relocating to Wellington released the EP Ata Takahi. For the full-length album Wandering Paths, they have brought in a few friends to expand their sound in the studio: fellow vocalist Tessa Rain, guitarist Ryan Prebble, pianist James Coyle and taonga pūoro exponent Alistair Fraser.

Moss and Grenell adapt their country/folk style of duo singing to ballad, reggae and soul songs, fleshed out subtly by the band. Their lyrics are socially and environmentally aware.

Absolute Rights looks at the alienation of beneficiaries and refugees in this country; Women's Wisdom is a voice for women whose rights are overshadowed. The content, which might be heavy, is made palatable by a sense of joy and community throughout, highlighted in the a capella piece Back There. Wandering Paths is musically eloquent and soft-spoken while articulating ideas that are seldom expressed from a woman's perspective about issues common to everyone.

GREAT NEWS FOR THE MODERN MAN

Eru Dangerspiel

Self release (Amplifier.com, Real Groovy)

RRP $22.95

Review nā Joseph Tipa

As a young Māori artist in these days of artistic peak production, I find myself wondering, "Where is my generation's Hone Tūwhare? Where is our Ralph Hotere, our Billy TK?" Well, I've found one, and he is a musician named Riki Gooch.

Since leaving Trinity Roots, Gooch has been headhunted to drum, arrange and produce for artists such as Neil Finn, Anika Moa and Bic Runga.

Joseph Tipa (Ngāi Tahu ki Moeraki, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a musician, singer, and songwriter. He is based in Wellington.

Great News for the Modern Man is his first solo release under the moniker Eru Dangerspiel, and it burns a path through the brush of audio mass. Musical contributors are Anna Coddington, Laughton and Francis Kora and pianist Jonothan Crayford, with vocalist/producer Parks delivering two of the stand-out tracks, Kevin and Backfoot.

You need only look at Eru's Myspace mates to see where his music emanates from; mates include Sun Ra, David Axelrod, James Brown and New York's homeless laureate, Moondog. Eru Dangerspiel advances the same search for self expression as these artists do, but in a contemporary context. Unfortunately, it has gone under the radar or over the heads of most people.