English 221/355: A Waiora worksheet.

A. An immigrant’s play.

“My own family moved from a little place called Tiki Tiki on the East Coast of
the North Island down to Invercargill. We were the only brown faces there. A lot
of Maori felt they were in a completely different country when they moved away
from rural areas, so Wairoa is a kind of immigrant story.” (Hone Kouka
interviewed in the Sunday Star Times, May 11 1997).

1. Pakeha, and people from other ethnicities, also encounter the problem of
leaving an old world behind and coming to terms with a new world.
Compare America’s ‘melting pot’ experience, where immigration often
follows a three generation pattern: 1) the first generation speak the old language
at home and preserve the old ways; they accept menial work for themselves but
want their children to get ahead and are strict with them. 2) The next generation
are fluent in the new language, but are bilingual and still follow the old religion;
they internalize high parental expectations, battle with them for a realistic sense
of cultural boundaries, they make money. 3) The third generation no longer speak
the old language and have become thoroughly secular. They battle for
independence from their more traditional parents. They are well educated, often
having careers in the professions. Apart from looking different and having a taste
for ‘ethnic food’, they have all the values of the majority culture.
What are some similarities and differences with Maori as internal migrants
in Aotearoa?

2. The immigrants’ problem is that the place they’ve left always becomes perfect
- but only from a distance. Would it be possible for the family to return to
Waiora? What might happen if they did? Should the sense of a homeland be
important? Why/ Why not? How important is homeland in Living in the
Maniototo?

B. Urbanisation and Impoverishment.

“Like most New Zealanders, I saw Once Were Warriors, and from a Maori
perspective I began asking myself how we’d ever arrived at such a point. From
there, it was simply a matter of retracing my steps back and discovering that one of
the big reasons for the transformation was the Maori urban drift. In 1936, 9% of
Maori lived in urban areas, but by the ‘60s that had risen to 33%.” (Hone Kouka
interviewed in the Sunday Star Times, May 11 1997).

What are some similarities and differences between O.W.W (novel or movie) and
Waiora? Note the violence of the fathers, the conflict between the roles of wife and
mother in the family, the intended/accomplished suicides of the daughters. What
alternatives do both texts hold out? Is a return to traditional values a solution or a
bandaid? To what extent is the ending of Waiora a critique of O.W.W’s ending?
C. The Beach.

“It is from the coast that people can best see and hear the tipuna who have travelled
to Hawaiiki whence they can guide and challenge their people... The seashore offers
a threshold to the other world of the ancestors.” (Judith Dale: Illusions 26, Winter
1997.)

Beaches are culturally significant sites in NZ – they’re very part of the emotional
landscape of being a New Zealander. What are the usual meanings of the beach as a
setting?
Beaches are also zones of transition from one state to another – from land to
sea. Because they’re transitional zones, they are also useful metaphors. What of the
beach in Waiora? How does the beach setting relate to family’s journey?
Note that the beach is a marginal space also insofar as it connects “this”
world and “that” world -- ie the physical world and a world which is physically
absent, but emotionally present - not the “spirit” world, as that implies a world
“beyond death” - but a world alongside the physical, which interacts with it and
influences it.

D. The Pakeha.

Are the Pakeha characters a significant source of conflict in this play? If not, then
what is their role? What are their limitations? Read pp82-85. What stereotypes are
at work here? How does John/Hone appear in this section of dialogue? How does
Steve come across? Read 64-65. Steve and belonging. Does he belong?

E. Theatre

‘“How do people pretending on stage help Maori? Is it important at all?” That set me
thinking. But I’m sure of the answers. Maori theatre is important - it helps us because
it’s Maori talking about Maori and we’re showing things the way we see them. My
friend followed up his questions with a dogmatic observation: “Maori theatre is only
Maori if it is written in the reo.” I don’t buy that at all. Most Maori actors, writers and
directors (me included) have only a limited knowledge of taha Maori. So, if Maori
theatre had to be in Maori we’d end up with only a handful of “legitimate” plays.
And what we call Maori theatre wouldn’t exist. Maori theatre, to me, is Maori having
the power to tell our own stories in such a way that our audience can recognise
themselves on stage.’ (Hone Kouka: “Can plays help?” Mana no. 3 August/Sept.
1993)

What is the role of the tipuna in Waiora? How and why do they interact with the family?
What advantages are there in presenting these figures dramatically, as opposed to writing
about them in a novel or short story?

What is the role of waiata and haka in Waiora? How does it differ from the peruperu and
similar moments in Awatea?