Witi Ihimaera - The Whale Rider

I wish I could say the book had a rapturous reception, but it didn’t. There were very few reviews: none in the New Zealand Listener, Landfall or any of the other literary magazines. The University of Auckland Library database lists only two, including one by Michael King in Metro , but I am sure there must have been a few in regional newspapers, too. However, from 1987 to 1994 the book had a popular audience; it went through three different editions and was published in a Maori edition in 1995.

Some very fine people worked on the book, including well known Maori artists John Hovell and John Walsh, who illustrated covers, and Timoti Karetu, who provided the Maori translation. The only place you could buy the book was in New Zealand, but somehow people around the world got hold of it, and they would write me letters. Not until the film, Whale Rider , was released internationally in 2002, however, was the novel successful in securing overseas publishing interest — in particular, an American edition (2003), in the very country in which it was written. For that edition I reversioned the novel; and I also took the opportunity to make one simple but profound change to something that had always bothered me. In the first edition of 1987 I had given the final blessing on the girl hero to the ancient bull whale to say. In the second version, I gave the words to the elderly female whale: ‘Child, your people await you. Return to the kingdom of Tane and fulfil your destiny.’ The Whale Rider now fully affirms the role of the female throughout the natural world as well as the human one.

Today the first New Zealand hardback edition is worth a lot of money. Heck, I haven’t even got a copy myself, and I’d be pleased if you have one I could buy.

aeyes

ahauI, me

AhuahuMercury Island

aoworld

AotearoaNew Zealand

arohalove

arohanuigreat love

haeretravel

hakawar dance

hapukugroper Polyprion oxygeneios

haramaicome here

Hawaikitraditional homeland of the Maori people

hineform of address to a girl

Hine Nui Te PoGoddess of Death

hoapartner, friend

hokowhituwar party

hongipress noses in greeting

huhubeetle grub Prionoplus reticularis

huigathering

hui e, haumi e, taiki eritual incantation: join everything together, bind it together, let it be done

iahe, she, him, her

ihipower

ikafish

iwitribe

kahastrength

kahawaifish Arripis trutta

kaifood

kaingahome

karakiaprayer

karangacall

karanga maicall (to someone)

katoaall

kiwismall flightless bird, native to New Zealand

ko waiwho?

koeyou (one person)

kohanganursery

koroold man (affectionate)

korouaold man

koutouyou (pl.)

kowhaiwhaiscroll painting on rafter

kuiaold woman

kuiniqueen

maihere, this direction

makoshark Isurus glaucus

manaprestige

manaakihospitality

manawanuibrave

mangabarracouta Thyrsites atun

mango ururoagreat white shark Carcharodon carcharias

Maoriindigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand

maraecommunal point of settlement

mauawe two

maurilife principle

mihimihiintroductory speechmaking

moalarge flightless bird, now extinct

moanasea

moedoze, sleep

mokemokelonely

mokitrumpeter fish Latridopsis spp.

mokotattoo

mokopunagrandchild; young generation

nekeshift

neke neketighten up

ngathe (pl.)

Ngatipeople of …

nohoremain

nuibig

opeexpedition

oraalive; well, healthy

pae kareby golly!

paiquality; good

pakabugger

Pakehanon-Maori

pauashellfish Haliotis spp.

pikiclimb

pitobirth cord

piupiuflax skirt

pohutukawared-flowering native tree Metrosideros excelsa

pounamugreenstone

poutamasteps

Poututerangistar Altair

puawaitangablossoming

putiputiflower

rasun

rangatiranoble

rangisky

Rawheorosite of traditional East Coast carving school

rawhitieast

Rehuastar Antares

reospeech

Rotoruaa city in the Bay of Plenty

rungaupwards

taiahalong club

takumy (one item)

tamaboy

tamahinegirl

tamarikichildren

tamurefish Pagrasomus auratus

Tanegod of man

Tangaroaguardian of the sea

tangataperson (either sex)

tangimourn

taniwhawater monster

tapusacred

tarawhaistingray

tatouus (including the one spoken to)

tautokoto support

Tawhirimateagod of winds and storm

tawhitidistance

tethe (sing.)

te mea te meayeah, yeah

Te Pito o te Whenuathe Polynesian name for Easter Island

Te Whiti Te RaThe Pathway of the Sun

tekotekocarved figure on a house

tenathat (near you)

teneithis

tipuaguardian spirit

tipunaancestor

titirolook

toawarrior

tohorasouthern right whale Baelena glacialis australis

tohuemblem, sign

tohungaspecialist, especially artist or priest

toiadrag

tomoenter

tomo maijoin us

tustand

tuahinesister, female cousin (of a male)

TuamotuEast Polynesian archipelago

tuataraancient reptile Sphenodon punctatus

waenganuiin the middle

wahinewoman

waiwater

waiatasong poem

wakacanoe

wanangaseminar

warehoufish Seriolelle brama