The Whale Rider

by

Witi Ihimaera

The Maori are the Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to New Zealand (or Aotearoa). Like indigenous people in other settler colonies, the Maori face ongoing discrimination and live in far worse conditions than the white settler population who stole their land. The Maori people’s language, te reo Maori , was declining until the schools and community organizations that Ihimaera describes in The Whale Rider began revitalizing it in the 1980s.

Maori Quotes in The Whale Rider

The The Whale Rider quotes below are all either spoken by Maori or refer to Maori. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
).
Prologue: Chapter 1 Quotes

Karanga mai, karanga mai, karanga mai.

Related Characters: Kahutia Te Rangi / Paikea (speaker), The Ancient Bull Whale
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:

Hui e, haumi e, taiki e.

Let it be done.

Related Characters: Kahutia Te Rangi / Paikea, The Ancient Bull Whale
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
Autumn: Chapter 11 Quotes

In many respects the parallels with the Maori in New Zealand were very close, except that we didn’t have to advance as many years in one lifetime. However, our journey was possibly more difficult because it had to be undertaken within European terms of acceptability. We were a minority and much of our progress was dependent on European goodwill. And there was no doubt that in New Zealand, just as in Papua New Guinea, our nationalism was also galvanizing the people to become one Maori nation.

Related Characters: Rawiri (speaker), Jeff
Page Number: 70
Explanation and Analysis:

“Will we be ready?” he asked. “Will we have prepared the people to cope with the new challenges and the new technology? And will they still be Maori?” I could tell that the last question was weighing heavily on his mind. In this respect we both recognized that the answer lay in Koro Apirana’s persistence with the school sessions, for he was one of the very few who could pass on the sacred knowledge. Our Koro was like an old whale stranded in an alien present, but that was how it was supposed to be, because he also had his role in the pattern of things, in the tides of the future.

Related Characters: Rawiri (speaker), Porourangi (speaker), Koro Apirana, The Ancient Bull Whale
Page Number: 71-72
Explanation and Analysis:
Autumn: Chapter 12 Quotes

E nga rangatira,” Kahu began, “e nga iwi”—she looked at Koro Apirana’s empty seat—“tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.” There were stars in her eyes, like sparkling tears. “Distinguished guests, members of the audience, my speech is a speech of love for my grandfather, Koro Apirana.”

Nanny Flowers gave a sob, and tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Related Characters: Kahu (speaker), Rawiri (speaker), Koro Apirana, Nanny Flowers
Page Number: 86
Explanation and Analysis:
Winter: Chapter 16 Quotes

“But then, […] man assumed a cloak of arrogance and set himself up above the Gods. He even tried to defeat Death, but failed. As he grew in his arrogance, he started to drive a wedge through the original oneness of the world. In the passing of Time he divided the world into that half he could believe in and that half he could not believe in. The real and the unreal. The natural and the supernatural. The scientific and the fantastic. The present and the past. He put a barrier between both worlds, and everything on his side was called rational and everything on the other side was called irrational. Belief in our Maori Gods […] has often been considered irrational.”

Related Characters: Koro Apirana (speaker), The Ancient Bull Whale
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:

“[The whale] is a reminder of the oneness that the world once had. It is the birth cord joining past and present, reality and fantasy. It is both [real and unreal, natural and supernatural]. It is both, […] and if we have forgotten the communion then we have ceased to be Maori!”

[…] “The whale is a sign. […] It has stranded itself here. If we are able to return it to the sea, then that will be proof that the oneness is still with us. If we are not able to return it, then this is because we have become weak. If it lives, we live. If it dies, we die. Not only its salvation but ours is waiting out there.”

Related Characters: Rawiri (speaker), Koro Apirana (speaker), Kahu , Kahutia Te Rangi / Paikea, The Ancient Bull Whale
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Whale Rider LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Whale Rider PDF

Maori Term Timeline in The Whale Rider

The timeline below shows where the term Maori appears in The Whale Rider. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Spring: Chapter 3
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
Koro Apirana is angry because in Maori tradition, the chief’s eldest son inherits the title—but it will fall to Kahu unless Porourangi... (full context)
Summer: Chapter 6
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...him. She surprises the family twice on this trip: first, she turns out to love Maori food, like fermented corn. The second surprise happens when Koro Apirana calls all the men... (full context)
Summer: Chapter 7
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
Maori Identity Theme Icon
...Apirana is a well-known but widely feared activist. Rawiri and his friends call him “Super Maori” (after Superman). His meeting was about building preschools based on the model of his language... (full context)
Autumn: Chapter 10
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...goes to stay with his cousin Kingi in Sydney, and he’s surprised to see other Maori people all over. The big city’s energy is intoxicating, and he parties with other cousins,... (full context)
Autumn: Chapter 11
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
Maori Identity Theme Icon
At Jeff’s family’s coffee plantation, Jeff’s mother, Clara, is uncomfortable with Rawiri being Maori. Jeff’s father, Tom, works hard to manage his plantation, even though he can’t walk or... (full context)
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...(But Koro Apirana still doesn’t love her.) Later, he writes about the importance of revitalizing Maori culture and the wisdom that Koro Apirana imparts in his classes. (full context)
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...especially because Jeff’s parents (Clara and Tom) are ostracizing him more and more for being Maori. Back on the plantation, Rawiri gets a letter from Porourangi, who reports that Ana is... (full context)
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...he includes a letter from seven-year-old Kahu, who says she misses Rawiri and is leading Maori cultural events at school. Rawiri flies home the next month. On the flight, he sees... (full context)
Autumn: Chapter 12
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
Familial Love Theme Icon
...Kahu sings, performs gymnastics, and dances with her classmates. Then, she gives a speech in Maori, which is all about her love and respect for Koro Apirana. The family cheers her... (full context)
Winter: Chapter 15
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
Maori Identity Theme Icon
...group of men cutting one of them apart with a chainsaw. This infuriates the local Maori. (full context)
Winter: Chapter 16
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
Maori Identity Theme Icon
...ancient whale is both natural and supernatural. It represents the link to nature that the Maori have lost. If the men can’t return the whale to the ocean, it will die—and... (full context)
Humans and Nature Theme Icon
Maori Identity Theme Icon
Gender and Power Theme Icon
...of the elderly female whales try to push him back into the ocean, and the Maori men set up their tractors and start pulling on the whale. They turn him halfway... (full context)