The Whale Rider focuses on a succession crisis in the Apirana family, the traditional Maori rulers of Whangara, New Zealand, who fight to preserve their people’s identity in a country that has long oppressed and ignored them. The family patriarch and current chief, Koro Apirana, is focused on identifying a suitable male heir for the chieftainship, so he grows frustrated and dejected when his grandson Porourangi (who is next in line) has two daughters instead of sons. The eldest daughter, Kahu, shows signs of deep connection to the family’s ancestors and even certain supernatural powers that the Maori believe to have been lost generations ago. But Koro Apirana refuses to accept that she could ever be chief, simply because a woman has never held the job. Over the course of the novel, however, a series of fateful encounters with whales proves him wrong and transforms Kahu into her people’s natural leader.
The Whale Rider opens with the story of Kahutia Te Rangi (or Paikea), the Apiranas’ legendary ancestor, who traveled from the Maori homeland of Hawaiki to Whangara on a whale’s back. He founded the town by throwing spears that transformed into its lush plants and abundant animal life, but his last spear never landed—instead, it kept flying through time and space, awaiting the crucial moment when humans really need it. Now, centuries later, the ancient whale that he rode is still alive. Much like Koro Apirana, he is the wise and respected leader of his community, but he secretly feels anxious and defeated. The novel is peppered with short chapters about this whale and his herd as they migrate across the sea. He constantly wonders if he’ll ever reunite with his beloved master, Paikea.
Porourangi’s younger brother Rawiri narrates the Apirana family’s tale, which begins shortly after Kahu’s birth. Furious about Kahu’s gender and name (which comes from Kahutia Te Rangi), Koro Apirana refuses to acknowledge her or even help bury her umbilical cord in the village, as tradition dictates. His outspoken wife, Nanny Flowers, objects to his sexism and threatens to divorce him, but he ignores her. Kahu’s mother Rehua dies three months later, and Rehua’s mother raises Kahu in a different village.
But Kahu returns to Whangara for the holidays every summer. On her first trip, when she is two, she instantly takes a liking to Koro Apirana—who responds by shunning her. She even sneaks into his all-male classes about Maori tradition. During one, when he describes acquiring his mentor’s powers by biting the man’s toe, Kahu bites his toe, to her delight and his great annoyance. She grows particularly interested in his classes on whales, and Rawiri notices her singing whale songs when she is alone.
In his early twenties, Rawiri moves to Australia with his cousin and then to Papua New Guinea with his friend Jeff, a white settler whose parents Tom and Clara run a coffee plantation. Two years later, due to experiencing racism and homesickness, he returns home. When Rawiri arrives in Whangara, Porourangi’s second wife, Ana, has just given birth to a girl named Putiputi. Meanwhile, Kahu, who is now seven, performs traditional Maori arts at her school’s year-end ceremony and even gives a speech in Maori about her love and respect for Koro Apirana—who doesn't even show up. Kahu tells Rawiri that she wishes she were a boy, because then Koro Apirana would love her instead of spending all his time training potential male heirs. During one of his training sessions, Koro Apirana throws a rock into the ocean and dares the boys to dive and retrieve it. None of them can find it, but Kahu easily does later that day.
Next, something remarkable happens near Whangara: a herd of some 200 whales beach themselves on the shore. It makes the national news, and when opportunistic white people descend on the beach to literally cut apart the whales for profit, the Maori people of Whangara assemble to try and stop them. The navy drags the whales back out to sea, only for them to beach themselves again and all die before the day is up.
Koro Apirana sees the mass beaching as “a sign to us,” proof that his people are failing in their traditional duty to steward their land and sea. But the next day gives them one more chance to prove themselves: the ancient whale from earlier chapters washes up on the shore. Or, more precisely, he loses the will to live and throws himself ashore because he thinks he will never see Paikea again. Koro Apirana laments that his people have lost touch with “the original oneness of the world”—including their special bond with whales—by arrogantly convincing themselves that they are meant to exploit nature for profit instead of respecting it. All of Whangara works together to save the whale, who just throws himself back on the beach as his whole herd sings in sorrow.
But when Kahu approaches the whale and introduces herself by her full name, Kahutia Te Rangi, he trembles in joy. Kahu mounts the whale, who takes her out to sea. Soon, however, the ancient whale’s wife (the old mother whale) points out that Kahu isn’t the original Paikea—more likely, she’s a descendant, the long-foretold final spear. They agree to return Kahu to land, and she is found floating in the ocean three days later. Meanwhile, her family has been mourning her loss. Koro Apirana finally recognized her special powers, while Nanny Flowers collapsed.
Following this incident, Kahu and Nanny Flowers wake up in adjacent hospital beds. Koro Apirana visits the hospital and apologizes for his sexism, pronouncing his love for his great-granddaughter. Faraway at sea, the ancient whale celebrates “the partnership between land and sea, whales and all humankind.” When she listens closely, Kahu can still hear their songs.
