Pūrākau – Māori Myths retold by Māori Writers

This has been sitting in a pile by the bed for a wee while. Jacq’s call for reviews prompted me to get on and get it read! My own journey into acquiring a greater understanding of Te Ao Māori and Te Reo had prompted my purchase. Time has not been my friend!

The cover of the anthology itself tells its own narrative. It depicts a tokotoko (walking – talking stick) designed by James Ormsby. Without giving too much away the structure or sections of the tokotoko correlate to the five sections of the anthology. Metaphor has huge significance in Māori whakataukī (Māori proverbs) and the tokotoko and its design represent this.

Witi Ihimaera and Whiti Hereaka’s introduction places the anthology in a context of a ‘time when humankind needs heroes and heroines who can begin to negotiate with the gods for our rangatiratanga sovereignty’. In a time when ‘deities and demons are human today, existing among our own kind’. Both of these quotes could form the basis for a fascinating and rich crtitial literacy approach to text analysis.

From that last sentence, you should be able to see that I am pitching this text at the top senior level. Some of the content would be unsuitable for junior readers. The list of contributing authors includes award winning poets and novelists; journalists and bloggers; familiar and not so familiar names. The anthology features a range of genres and styles – a variety of poetic forms, fiction that reads as non fiction.

You need to read the anthology as it was intended – following the sections of the tokotoko. But I am going to mention three pieces that leapt out at me :

Hine-titama – Ask the Posts of the House – Witi Ihimaera
A 40 page short story narrated by Isaac Tairāwhiti Jnr. A successful businessman whio has supported his extended ‘cash strapped’ whānau through gambling debt, mortgage repayments, university education and gang issues for over 30 years. Over the course of the story we touch upon these characters and the secrets that they keep …and reveal.

Māui goes to Hollywood – David Geary
A story that begins with Māui hanging out with other celebrity impersonators – Elvis and Marilyn.

Me aro koe ki te hā o Hineahuone! – Jacqueline Carter
The final verse got me.

to pay heed
to the strength
that is woman.

Enjoy.