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Whale songs represent the profound but oft-forgotten connection between humans, other animals, and the natural world as a whole. Whales communicate primarily through complex, expressive songs, and in The Whale Rider, these songs serve as a motif to announce contact between humans and whales. Koro Apirana laments that humans can no longer communicate with whales, as they once could according to Maori tradition. Now, on the rare occasion when the endangered whales’ songs can still be heard, they represent a lost connection to nature, a deeper knowledge of the world that the Maori can only dream of regaining.
But throughout the novel, this connection resurfaces. Kahu learns to talk to whales by singing in their language—much like Kahutia Te Rangi communicated with the ancient whale by playing his flute. More than any other, this special ability to communicate and connect helps Kahu become the whale rider of Maori legend and save her people. Even as a toddler, Kahu is sensitive to whales and their songs, which represents her special powers and destiny. She frequently gazes out at the sea, lost in thought, humming whale songs. At the end of the novel, she reveals that she can hear whales singing from a great distance and has been communicating back to them all along. Readers might even wonder if Kahu’s call is what brings all the whales to beach themselves in Whangara, or if the chapters about the herd of whales are translations of the songs that Kahu hears.
Whale Songs Quotes in The Whale Rider
The The Whale Rider quotes below all refer to the symbol of Whale Songs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Spring: Chapter 2
Quotes
The human had heard the young whale’s distress and had come into the sea, playing a flute. The sound was plangent and sad as he tried to communicate his oneness with the young whale’s mourning. Quite without the musician knowing it, the melodic patterns of the flute’s phrases imitated the whale song of comfort. The young whale drew nearer to the human, who cradled him and pressed noses with the orphan in greeting. When the herd traveled onward, the young whale remained and grew under the tutelage of his master.
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Winter: Chapter 16
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I thought I saw something flying through the air, across the aeons, to plunge into the heart of the village.
A dark shadow began to ascend from the deep. Then there were other shadows rising, ever rising. Suddenly the first shadow breached the surface and I saw it was a whale. Leviathan. Climbing through the depths. Crashing through the skin of sea. And as it came, the air was filled with streaked lightning and awesome singing.
Koro Apirana gave a tragic cry, for this was no ordinary beast, no ordinary whale. This whale came from the past. As it came, it filled the air with its singing.
Karanga mai, karanga mai,
karanga mai.
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Epilogue: Chapter 20
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“Very well,” the ancient bull whale said. “Then let everyone live, and let the partnership between land and sea, whales and all humankind, also remain.”
And the whale herd sang their gladness that the tribe would also live, because they knew that the girl would need to be carefully taught before she could claim the place for her people in the world.
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Epilogue: Chapter 21
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Kahu looked at Koro Apirana, her eyes shining.
“Oh, Paka, can’t you hear them? I’ve been listening to them for ages now. Oh, Paka, and the whales are still singing,” she said.
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Get the entire The Whale Rider LitChart as a printable PDF.
Whale Songs Symbol Timeline in The Whale Rider
The timeline below shows where the symbol Whale Songs appears in The Whale Rider. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Spring: Chapter 2
After migrating across the Southern Ocean to their breeding grounds, a herd of whales sings songs and waits for its young to grow. An ancient bull whale remembers how, when...
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Spring: Chapter 4
...Kahutia Te Rangi in the moonlight, Rawiri sees a flying spear and hears a whale’s song. The chapter ends with the chant, “Hui e, haumi e, taiki e. / Let it...
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Summer: Chapter 7
...brought a major Maori ancestor, Paikea, to Whangara. But over time, humans forgot how to talk to whales and even started killing them.
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...on the beach: when a pod of killer whales passed in the distance, Kahu made whale noises that sounded just like the movie. She seemed to be warning them, and they dived...
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Summer: Chapter 8
...sea for a lesson on sustainable fishing traditions and the effects of overfishing. When a whale sounds in the distance, Koro Apirana laments how few of them are left these days. Back...
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Winter: Chapter 15
The police start harassing Rawiri and the boys but soon realize that they’re all on the same side and...
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Winter: Chapter 16
...out because this is a special whale—an ancient whale from the past. “Karanga mai,” he sings, and the rest of his herd joins in. The whale also has a sacred tattoo...
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...the dining room. Koro Apirana tells the men how their ancestors, like Paikea, could once communicate with whales —until humans grew arrogant. People began thinking their science could explain everything and forgot “the...
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...Koro Apirana warns, he will die too. Under the stormy sky, the other whales start singing a mourning song.
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Winter: Chapter 17
...her, but she keeps swimming toward the ancient whale, determined to save it. She starts singing “karanga mai” to the whale. “Oh sacred ancestor,” she sings to him, “I am Kahu...
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Epilogue: Chapter 19
The ancient bull whale leads his herd deeper and deeper into the sea. The females sing about love and unity but worry about the ancient whale’s injuries. His wife, the old...
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Epilogue: Chapter 20
...“and let the partnership between land and sea, whales and all humankind, also remain.” They sing and break through the surface.
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Epilogue: Chapter 21
Kahu shushes everyone and asks if they can hear the whales . The novel describes the ancient whale throwing Kahu off his back and the mother...
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