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Where the Rekohu Bone Sings
From the Chatham Islands/Rekohu to London, the 21st century to 1835, this novel confronts the complexity of being Moriori, Maori and Pakeha.
In the 1880s, Mere yearns for independence. Her best friend Iraia wants the same, but as the descendent of a slave, such things are barely conceivable to him. One summer as they approach adulthood, they notice that their friendship has changed, and that, if they are ever to experience freedom, they will need to travel beyond the isolation and safety of their Queen Charlotte Sound home.
One hundred years later, twins Lula and Bigsy's birth is literally one in a million, as their mother Tui likes to tell people. But when Tui dies they learn there is much she kept secret, especially about their heritage. They too will need to travel beyond the world they have known, to an island they barely knew existed, at the eastern edge of New Zealand's Pacific realm.
Neither Mere and Iraia, nor Lula and Bigsy are aware that someone else is part of their journeys. He does not watch over them so much as watch through them, feeling their loss and confusion as if it were his own.
In the 1880s, Mere yearns for independence. Her best friend Iraia wants the same, but as the descendent of a slave, such things are barely conceivable to him. One summer as they approach adulthood, they notice that their friendship has changed, and that, if they are ever to experience freedom, they will need to travel beyond the isolation and safety of their Queen Charlotte Sound home.
One hundred years later, twins Lula and Bigsy's birth is literally one in a million, as their mother Tui likes to tell people. But when Tui dies they learn there is much she kept secret, especially about their heritage. They too will need to travel beyond the world they have known, to an island they barely knew existed, at the eastern edge of New Zealand's Pacific realm.
Neither Mere and Iraia, nor Lula and Bigsy are aware that someone else is part of their journeys. He does not watch over them so much as watch through them, feeling their loss and confusion as if it were his own.
280 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2014
32 people are currently reading
928 people want to read
About the author
Tina Makereti
11 books92 followersWhere the Rēkohu Bone Sings is Tina Makereti’s first novel. Her short story collection, Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa (Huia Publishers 2010), won the Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards Fiction Prize 2011. In 2009 she was the recipient of the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing (non-fiction), and in the same year received the Pikihuia Award for Best Short Story written in English. In October 2012, Makereti was Writer in Residence at the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt, and in 2014 she is the Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writer in Residence. Makereti has a PhD Creative Writing from Victoria University, and teaches creative writing and English at Massey and Victoria Universities. She is of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Pākehā and, in all probability, Moriori descent. She now lives on the Kāpiti Coast with her partner, two daughters and unruly dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 6, 2020
“Life climbs back into itself, life makes itself anew, and even the desecration of a people is no match for the plans the sacred has for itself.”
Oh, this book catches you deep in the gut, a winding, and cuts through to the bone, and if you don't have tears by the end (and at all the points through the middle, too) then go back and read it again, let it catch you somewhere deeper.
Makereti balances and embraces the complexities of whakapapa here so beautifully, and I don't really have the words for it.
October 8, 2017
The books you love the most are often the hardest to review. That's always been the case. Or the curse. To say I loved this book feels like an incredible understatement. It has stayed, pulsating, in the back of my mind days after I turned the last page. My thoughts constantly wander back to it, and I am left a little winded by the emotion of the story that overwhelms me each time.
Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings has three main narratives running through. First is Mere's, a young Māori woman living in 1880s New Zealand. She is on the cusp of discovering independence and love, at the cost of great sacrifice on her part. For she is in love with Iraia, the young Moriori man living on her father's property as farmhand and all around helper. He is treated as someone lesser, an outsider, and must live with the stigma that is forced on people of Moriori descent. To cast her lot with him means giving up everything Mere has known.
In contemporary New Zealand are Lula and Bigs, twins born to their Māori mother and Pākehā (European) father. Lula has inherited her father's pale skin, while Bigs resembles their darker skinned mother. Despite their fierce closeness from a young age, school yard taunts and real life eventually drive the two of them apart. The death of their mother might be the last saving factor of their relationship, and a chance to find out about a part of their heritage that has been buried for too long.
Linking these two is a nameless voice, a long lost soul flitting in between the lives of Mere and Iraia, and Lula and Bigs. It is heavy with sorrow and despair, but becomes infused with a certain strength as the story progresses.
Tina Makereti's writing is beautiful. It is lyrical, but not flowery; it is delicate, but strong enough to carry the important stories that she's weaving with it. I was especially taken with Mere and Iraia's part of the story. They are both very young, and incredibly brave when they set off on their adventure, and I wanted to protect them from everything and anything that might crop up on their journey.Their story is a part of New Zealand history about which I am not very knowledgeable and I wanted to soak it all in.
Some facts (as gleaned by me, so please correct me if I'm wrong):
Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Moriori were the indigenous people of the Chatham,or Rēkohu Islands, a small group of islands off New Zealand's west coast. They were a people who prized non-violence. When the Taranaki Māori colonized Rēkohu it ended in the genocide of the Moriori. Any survivors were taken back to the main land and made to work as servants and slaves. The erasure of their people brought stigma and discrimination, and Moriori descendants were forced to suffer these prejudices.
Buried history is obviously a pressing issue in this novel. Following the death of their mother, Lula feels compelled to discover more about this part of her family's legacy. Bigs on the other hand, who has already formed a strong connection to his Māori background, finds these new developments unsettling. Makereti explores these contentions with subtle realism. Identity and family history are complicated and multi-layered, and Lula's and Bigs' reactions speak to that. I would have liked to see more discussion and interaction between the siblings about this topic. Lula seemed to wait years to be close to her brother again, when it does happen it is not how she envisions it.
On the other hand, Makereti stresses the importance of finding connections in unexpected places. After all, that is what family history is about. It is when she is in a London museum that Lula feels a tugging for home, and it is with newly discovered family members that she unearths a long forgotten past. Whatever she may have lost, Lula also has much to gain.
The third mysterious voice was also a compelling one for me. I enjoyed piecing the narratives together, and finding out how they all fit.Things become clearer page by page, like an image slowly crystallizing before your eyes.
I have seen reviews that mentioned it was slightly frustrating - the unknown third voice, its pace and its tone. The thing is, Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings is one of those "wallowing" books. And by that I mean you, the reader, has to wallow in it. You have to soak it all in. It's not a race to the last page to see how all the action is tied up. All the minutiae matters. Soaking in all the details, immersing yourself in the lives of these characters. That is absolutely where the joy of this book lies. And that's where the heartbreak is as well. I still have to hug this book to my chest every once in awhile. If you have read it, or are going to, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts.
P.S. For those who are curious about this topic, Makereti suggests Moriori: A People Rediscovered by New Zealand historian Michael King.
Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings has three main narratives running through. First is Mere's, a young Māori woman living in 1880s New Zealand. She is on the cusp of discovering independence and love, at the cost of great sacrifice on her part. For she is in love with Iraia, the young Moriori man living on her father's property as farmhand and all around helper. He is treated as someone lesser, an outsider, and must live with the stigma that is forced on people of Moriori descent. To cast her lot with him means giving up everything Mere has known.
In contemporary New Zealand are Lula and Bigs, twins born to their Māori mother and Pākehā (European) father. Lula has inherited her father's pale skin, while Bigs resembles their darker skinned mother. Despite their fierce closeness from a young age, school yard taunts and real life eventually drive the two of them apart. The death of their mother might be the last saving factor of their relationship, and a chance to find out about a part of their heritage that has been buried for too long.
Linking these two is a nameless voice, a long lost soul flitting in between the lives of Mere and Iraia, and Lula and Bigs. It is heavy with sorrow and despair, but becomes infused with a certain strength as the story progresses.
Tina Makereti's writing is beautiful. It is lyrical, but not flowery; it is delicate, but strong enough to carry the important stories that she's weaving with it. I was especially taken with Mere and Iraia's part of the story. They are both very young, and incredibly brave when they set off on their adventure, and I wanted to protect them from everything and anything that might crop up on their journey.Their story is a part of New Zealand history about which I am not very knowledgeable and I wanted to soak it all in.
Some facts (as gleaned by me, so please correct me if I'm wrong):
Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Moriori were the indigenous people of the Chatham,or Rēkohu Islands, a small group of islands off New Zealand's west coast. They were a people who prized non-violence. When the Taranaki Māori colonized Rēkohu it ended in the genocide of the Moriori. Any survivors were taken back to the main land and made to work as servants and slaves. The erasure of their people brought stigma and discrimination, and Moriori descendants were forced to suffer these prejudices.
Buried history is obviously a pressing issue in this novel. Following the death of their mother, Lula feels compelled to discover more about this part of her family's legacy. Bigs on the other hand, who has already formed a strong connection to his Māori background, finds these new developments unsettling. Makereti explores these contentions with subtle realism. Identity and family history are complicated and multi-layered, and Lula's and Bigs' reactions speak to that. I would have liked to see more discussion and interaction between the siblings about this topic. Lula seemed to wait years to be close to her brother again, when it does happen it is not how she envisions it.
On the other hand, Makereti stresses the importance of finding connections in unexpected places. After all, that is what family history is about. It is when she is in a London museum that Lula feels a tugging for home, and it is with newly discovered family members that she unearths a long forgotten past. Whatever she may have lost, Lula also has much to gain.
The third mysterious voice was also a compelling one for me. I enjoyed piecing the narratives together, and finding out how they all fit.Things become clearer page by page, like an image slowly crystallizing before your eyes.
I have seen reviews that mentioned it was slightly frustrating - the unknown third voice, its pace and its tone. The thing is, Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings is one of those "wallowing" books. And by that I mean you, the reader, has to wallow in it. You have to soak it all in. It's not a race to the last page to see how all the action is tied up. All the minutiae matters. Soaking in all the details, immersing yourself in the lives of these characters. That is absolutely where the joy of this book lies. And that's where the heartbreak is as well. I still have to hug this book to my chest every once in awhile. If you have read it, or are going to, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts.
P.S. For those who are curious about this topic, Makereti suggests Moriori: A People Rediscovered by New Zealand historian Michael King.
March 10, 2014
(Rachel) Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings had me enthralled from the first page, and has stayed with me since I finished it. On one level, this is a gripping novel of family history and the lies that can travel through generations, but at the same time it’s an exploration of what it means to be Pakeha, Maori or Moriori in New Zealand.
I knew very little about Moriori or the Chatham Islands’ history before I read this novel, but Makeriti weaves the history in without ever coming across as didactic. And the history is absolutely fascinating and heart-breaking. Makeriti’s skill as a writer means that the story itself is beautifully woven with the factual events, so that one never overpowers the other.
This is one of those novels that I’ll be pressing into people’s hands and making them read. I think this is an important New Zealand book, and also a really good read.
I knew very little about Moriori or the Chatham Islands’ history before I read this novel, but Makeriti weaves the history in without ever coming across as didactic. And the history is absolutely fascinating and heart-breaking. Makeriti’s skill as a writer means that the story itself is beautifully woven with the factual events, so that one never overpowers the other.
This is one of those novels that I’ll be pressing into people’s hands and making them read. I think this is an important New Zealand book, and also a really good read.
December 18, 2022
That's probably the first time reading a novel with two timelines that I prefered the more modern one over the historical one. I just had a much easier time connecting to Lula and how her relationship with her twin brother changed over the years was the most intriguing part of the book for me. With Mere, there always was a distance preventing me from fully understanding her and feeling for her. While both narratives are interesting, the deeper themes of the novel stayed a bit too vague and superficial for me, someone who isn't very familar with the issues and indigenous people discussed. I had hoped to learn more, however the novel was first published in an environment where people probably have more prior knowledge.
May 6, 2014
This book is a must read for any New Zealander who wants to understand race relationships and struggles in a historical context and how these impact descendants of mixed race. I learnt so much and gained a much deeper appreciation. Set in my home towns of Queen Charlotte Sound/Picton and Wellington. And then Rekohu/Chatham Islands - which I am planning to visit some day. Covering both historic and current day settings. This is an outstanding first novel - by an author who gained her PhD in Creative Writing through this work.
June 1, 2014
I got this from the library and loved it so much I bought my own paperback copy. So full of information on a part of our history that few (including me) have any idea about, and yet also Where the Rekohu Bone Sings has a good fictional plot, and convincing characters and story. Love the identity theme too. I learned a lot and very much enjoyed the read. Highly recommended.
July 17, 2014
This is a powerful historic novel, spanning two generations separated by over a century but connected by the threads of the ancestors that flow through their veins. It is a story of identity and of mixed heritage. It is immersive, and lyrically written, with an eloquence to the prose that keeps the reader truly engaged.
The first thread follows Mere, a young Maori woman of reasonable wealth in the 1880s. She follows her heart into making a somewhat reckless decision and falls in love with Iraia, her best friend and the descendent of a slave. Life is harsh for this young man, whose ancestry can be traced back to the last of the Moriori on Rekohu, the Chatham Islands. Together the two seek freedom beyond the confines of the Marlborough Sounds and find difficult times as they must face up against poverty and prejudice. Their tale is simply told and bittersweet.
Then in the modern day, we have two twins - Bigsy and Lula - fraternal twins who could not be any more different, a one-in-a-million occurance: Lula takes after her father's Irish heritage, whereas Bigsy follows closer to his mother's Maori. We follow them through life, watching them grow from inseperable friends to further apart, when Bigsy finds his feet, but Lula is still drifting, unsettled. Eventually, a heart-breaking event will draw them both home and Lula finds her place, her identity, and ultimately follows her roots.
Weaving throughout the stories, written in a rather more colloquial tongue, is a third narrator, the anchor for the characters, drifting and darting, offering tantalising, but brutal, glimpses into a tragic past.
This was a finely crafted read, a book that truly does sing.
The first thread follows Mere, a young Maori woman of reasonable wealth in the 1880s. She follows her heart into making a somewhat reckless decision and falls in love with Iraia, her best friend and the descendent of a slave. Life is harsh for this young man, whose ancestry can be traced back to the last of the Moriori on Rekohu, the Chatham Islands. Together the two seek freedom beyond the confines of the Marlborough Sounds and find difficult times as they must face up against poverty and prejudice. Their tale is simply told and bittersweet.
Then in the modern day, we have two twins - Bigsy and Lula - fraternal twins who could not be any more different, a one-in-a-million occurance: Lula takes after her father's Irish heritage, whereas Bigsy follows closer to his mother's Maori. We follow them through life, watching them grow from inseperable friends to further apart, when Bigsy finds his feet, but Lula is still drifting, unsettled. Eventually, a heart-breaking event will draw them both home and Lula finds her place, her identity, and ultimately follows her roots.
Weaving throughout the stories, written in a rather more colloquial tongue, is a third narrator, the anchor for the characters, drifting and darting, offering tantalising, but brutal, glimpses into a tragic past.
This was a finely crafted read, a book that truly does sing.
July 7, 2014
I read about this book when I was back in New Zealand in April and was excited to read it. The basic plot is intriguing and the first few chapters set up a fascinating web of narratives that one hopes would be unspun over the course of the book. Lula and Bigs are NZ twins born in the late 20th century; one looks Maori and the other white. This phenomenon is ostensibly the central mystery (to us the reader and to the characters themselves) that is to be explained through two other narrative voices: Mere, a 19th century Maori woman and an ancestor of Lula and Bigs, and a moriori spirit from Rekohu, also an earlier ancestor of the twins, who traverses the time and space of the other two narratives. The book alternates through these three voices but the distribution is uneven and the movement between them seems clunky. Unfortunately, there's a lot of build up without much payoff in the end. None of the individual narratives seems complete at the end, and it left me feeling as if there was so much more to be explored. The novel is ambitious and takes on a complicated set of issues around race, identity and colonial relationships in New Zealand.
June 12, 2015
I enjoyed this novel with its three strands of story, from the present to two past eras: the 1835 invasion of Rekohu (Chatham Islands), a later colonial era, and the present day. After the death of Lula's mother Tui, a few family secrets come out at the funeral, and Lula goes in search of her Moriori past.
The three stories are well woven together, and the writing is very readable. The Moriori ancestor ghost offers poetry, spirit, and the ability to be omniscient.
I can't recall having read a novel about Moriori before – it's high time.
The three stories are well woven together, and the writing is very readable. The Moriori ancestor ghost offers poetry, spirit, and the ability to be omniscient.
I can't recall having read a novel about Moriori before – it's high time.
December 19, 2015
A beautifully constructed story, three threads woven carefully between generations,and between worlds. The history of the Moriori & ngati Mutanga and present day Chathams is something I really didn't know about before reading Makereti's novel, but realise now that it is a significant part of our history in Aotearoa. I'm eagerly awaiting her second novel, whenever that will be.
January 5, 2015
Beautiful, lyrical novel about a dark piece of New Zealand's history.
June 8, 2022
Why do I wait so long, Rēkohu, e, hia! I come home, I am home, and on my lips a song from the ancient line, long dead in my heart, now sudden alive and beating:
Wēra, wēra te rangi tu-nuku, tu-rangi,
Ka pai a Nuku, ka pai a Rangi,
Kahukura wahia te moana
Tungia i Hawaiki ‘a wēra.
June 25, 2014
A beautifully written, thought provoking novel that stayed with me long after finishing. Three separate but interconnected stories run through the book. Mere is a teenage girl from a well to do Maori family living in Queen Charlotte Sound in the 1880s. Living with the family is Iraia, a slave. When Mere and Iraia fall in love, they realise that they cannot be together and stay in the Sounds. Mere and Iraia's story is simply told, using a straightforward language. The prejudice against Maori that existed at the time is outlined, as is the pressure on Them from settlers to sell land. Interspersed with this story is a modern day tale of twins Lula and Biggs. Born to a Maori mother and Pakeha father, Lula and Biggs are unusual in that one was born naturally and the other by caesarian; also that one is white skinned, the other dark. This story is told in a sharper, contemporary language. The twins story is of searching for identity, for race, for belonging, and for family history. And interwoven is the voice of ... The bone? The kehua? A spirit who can't rest, who is still tormented by the slaughter and enslavement of the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands.
“He wahine, he whenua, e ngaro ai te tangata.”
Through women and land are men lost. These are the most usual causes of war.
The constant desire for land that runs through New Zealand's history is never much discussed. Only now do we talk about the effects on Maori of the Land Wars and land confiscations. Even less is talked about the fate of the Moriori. The protagonists have to come to terms with their ancestry - Maori, Moriori and Pakeha - the slaves and the enslavers, the colonised and the colonisers. The author brings all the characters to life, and shows sympathies with them all - there is no black or white caricatures, no simple good and bad.
Highly recommended, this is both a history lesson and a cleverly constructed story about love, family and identity.
“He wahine, he whenua, e ngaro ai te tangata.”
Through women and land are men lost. These are the most usual causes of war.
The constant desire for land that runs through New Zealand's history is never much discussed. Only now do we talk about the effects on Maori of the Land Wars and land confiscations. Even less is talked about the fate of the Moriori. The protagonists have to come to terms with their ancestry - Maori, Moriori and Pakeha - the slaves and the enslavers, the colonised and the colonisers. The author brings all the characters to life, and shows sympathies with them all - there is no black or white caricatures, no simple good and bad.
Highly recommended, this is both a history lesson and a cleverly constructed story about love, family and identity.
April 9, 2017
I really wanted to love this book as I have recently returned from my first trip to New Zealand and was enamoured by the country as well as its Maori culture, and was interested to learn more about the Moriori culture, which I knew nothing about. This aspect of the novel, I enjoyed, but I wanted more. While a commendable first novel, I felt that the characters were not fully realised or developed enough for me to be able to really engage with their experience, especially the contemporary characters, Lula and Bigs and I felt their search for identity was a little superficial. I was interested in the stories of their ancestors, and felt that perhaps if a whole book had been dedicated to each time period and the isses and characters had been explored in more depth, it would have worked better. I also felt that, not being from New Zealand and not having familiarity with some of the issues raised, nor the Maori language, some of the novel was lost to me, and this may have prevented me from engaging with it as much as I would have liked to.
August 26, 2014
This is a thoroughly New Zealand story. Told in various voices this story explores the difficulties of growing up part Maori, part Pakeha and part Moriori. These three cultures were all in conflict with each other in the 1880's which is where part of the story is set. Then it jumps a few generations to the present where descendants of mixed race, Lula and Bigs, are trying to come to terms with the actions of their violent forefathers.
Some of the story takes place in New Zealand and some on the Chatham Islands.
It was very interesting to read of this part of history, I was unfamiliar with the invasion by Maori of the Chathams and of the consequent enslavement of the Moriori and their transferal to the mainland.
Makereti knows her stuff, and has an interesting style, which took me a bit to get used to, but in the end proved a very good vehicle for telling this story.
Some of the story takes place in New Zealand and some on the Chatham Islands.
It was very interesting to read of this part of history, I was unfamiliar with the invasion by Maori of the Chathams and of the consequent enslavement of the Moriori and their transferal to the mainland.
Makereti knows her stuff, and has an interesting style, which took me a bit to get used to, but in the end proved a very good vehicle for telling this story.
March 10, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed this book - though I do have to say I read it while in New Zealand. It may be that if I wasn't there I might have been less enthused, and perhaps more frustrated by the frequent Maori words thrown in without definition leaving the reader with only context to discern the meaning.
But if a historical novel, not set in the U.S. or UK as too many are, interests you, or New Zealand or Maori context interests you, then this is a great book.
But if a historical novel, not set in the U.S. or UK as too many are, interests you, or New Zealand or Maori context interests you, then this is a great book.
October 10, 2014
Beautiful, beautiful sad, deep and and moving book. The story delicately explores issues of identity for our hybrid Moriori, Māori and Pākehā cultures. It is a lovely almost-coming-of-age tale that rewrote parts of my 1980's education.
Fantastic book.
Fantastic book.
September 11, 2014
This one feels like a story I've been waiting for for a long time.
To have such brutal and in other cases thoughtlessly imposed cultural change covered off so matter-of-factly, alongside a gentle exploration of family relationships through and over time was really very rewarding.
To have such brutal and in other cases thoughtlessly imposed cultural change covered off so matter-of-factly, alongside a gentle exploration of family relationships through and over time was really very rewarding.
July 19, 2016
This is a beautiful and important book especially from an historical New Zealand perspective. Makereti's characterisation is wonderful and her attention to setting impeccable. Most importantly it's a story about belonging and roots, a theme she deals with thoughtfully and sensitively.
January 24, 2022
There's a reason that this book is on so many New Zealander's list of must-reads. It's a fantastic novel set in two time periods in 1835 and the present day.
I read another book by Tina Makareti a while ago - The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke - and was struck by how powerfully the theme of whakapapa and ancestral connection was driving the story. This book does this even more so, and whakapapa/hokopapa is really another character across space and time, presented as an ancestor who lives and experiences what happens to his descendents.
I read another book by Tina Makareti a while ago - The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke - and was struck by how powerfully the theme of whakapapa and ancestral connection was driving the story. This book does this even more so, and whakapapa/hokopapa is really another character across space and time, presented as an ancestor who lives and experiences what happens to his descendents.
January 3, 2021
In the 1880s, Mere yearns for independence.Iraia wants the same but, as the descendant of a slave, such things are nearly inconceivable.
Powerful and compelling story confronting the complexity of being Moriori, Maori and Pakeha.
Powerful and compelling story confronting the complexity of being Moriori, Maori and Pakeha.
May 9, 2019
A wonderfully written book, a compelling story.
If only the dictionary at the end of the book was longer, explaining all the Moriori and Maori words...
If only the dictionary at the end of the book was longer, explaining all the Moriori and Maori words...
April 12, 2025
Devoured in one sitting
December 8, 2020
It is hard to not love this book.
Before I started reading the book, I hadn't looked at the goodreads review or googled it and I wasn't sure what to expect.
But once I picked it up, it was hard for me to put it down. It was such a beautiful, sad and happy at the same time. I think it should be considered a very important book in terms of NZ historical perspective. The identity struggle of the characters and the complexity of Moriori, Māori and Pakeha heritage, with imperfect knowledge of history, forming a connection to your land and whakapapa, it just kept me hooked to the book. I really enjoyed Mere's character who was a rebellious young woman to a resilient wahine toa as the story progresses. And Iraia was so proud and unbreakable. Their story will forever stay in my heart.
Before I started reading the book, I hadn't looked at the goodreads review or googled it and I wasn't sure what to expect.
But once I picked it up, it was hard for me to put it down. It was such a beautiful, sad and happy at the same time. I think it should be considered a very important book in terms of NZ historical perspective. The identity struggle of the characters and the complexity of Moriori, Māori and Pakeha heritage, with imperfect knowledge of history, forming a connection to your land and whakapapa, it just kept me hooked to the book. I really enjoyed Mere's character who was a rebellious young woman to a resilient wahine toa as the story progresses. And Iraia was so proud and unbreakable. Their story will forever stay in my heart.
September 3, 2016
Where the Rekohu Bone Sings is an impressive debut by New Zealand author Tina Makereti. It won the 2014 Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards Fiction Prize and was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Prize. It was a New Zealand best seller in the year of its release too…
It tells a story that I suspect is little known on our side of the ditch. According to Wikipedia, the Moriori People of the Chatham Islands were once thought to have been pre-Māori settlers of New Zealand, but linguistic research has now shown them to be Māori people with a distinctive Polynesian culture. It is believed that some time before 1500 they migrated from New Zealand to the Chatham archipelago, (nearly 700km southeast of mainland New Zealand) where (by contrast with the warlike Māori) they developed a uniquely peaceful culture:
The Moriori, however, were almost exterminated by the arrival of Māori from the mainland in the 1830s, and Tina Makerita has created an intriguing story about the complex heritage of the Moriori descendants of today.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/09/04/w...
It tells a story that I suspect is little known on our side of the ditch. According to Wikipedia, the Moriori People of the Chatham Islands were once thought to have been pre-Māori settlers of New Zealand, but linguistic research has now shown them to be Māori people with a distinctive Polynesian culture. It is believed that some time before 1500 they migrated from New Zealand to the Chatham archipelago, (nearly 700km southeast of mainland New Zealand) where (by contrast with the warlike Māori) they developed a uniquely peaceful culture:
A few thousand people on an island in the remotest part of the Pacific knew this. Don’t kill, they said. Maybe you fight until someone draws blood, but let that settle it. Go easy on your part of the world. Look around you. Don’t kill. (p. 266)
The Moriori, however, were almost exterminated by the arrival of Māori from the mainland in the 1830s, and Tina Makerita has created an intriguing story about the complex heritage of the Moriori descendants of today.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/09/04/w...
October 21, 2014
The story spans a few generations on the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. Mere, a Maori girl, falls in love with Iraia, son of a Moriori slave. They run away together. Morioris were slaughtered and enslaved by Maoris in the 1830s. Iraia gets ill and dies shortly after they ran away. Mere returns pregnant and heartbroken.
Generations later Lula questions her identity. She looks Pakeha (white) while her twin brother, Bigs looks Maori. After their mother dies a relative gives the twins property that should have belonged to their mother. Lula discovers they're Iraia's descendants and realize they weren't close to other family members because of their Moriori lineage.
The story also has an ancestral ghost narrative watching over the characters and recalling the massacre. The tragic love story, search for identity, New Zealand history, and racial issues kept me hooked.
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Generations later Lula questions her identity. She looks Pakeha (white) while her twin brother, Bigs looks Maori. After their mother dies a relative gives the twins property that should have belonged to their mother. Lula discovers they're Iraia's descendants and realize they weren't close to other family members because of their Moriori lineage.
The story also has an ancestral ghost narrative watching over the characters and recalling the massacre. The tragic love story, search for identity, New Zealand history, and racial issues kept me hooked.
https://twitter.com/TheCatOverlord
https://www.facebook.com/CatOverlord
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2018
Wow.
That was my first thought when I finished reading this novel. The impact will stay with you for quite some time. I've been sitting here for hours thinking 'wow.'
The novel discusses the intersections of being Maori, Pakeha, and the lesser known Moriori. The Moriori underwent a genocide by the Maori in the 1800s because of their peaceful tendencies--and this is probably something that you have not read about before. The story revolves around a family struggling to find their identities when it becomes clear a mother has "hidden" some of the past from them. It is touching, frustrating, terrible, wonderful... it is "wow."
That was my first thought when I finished reading this novel. The impact will stay with you for quite some time. I've been sitting here for hours thinking 'wow.'
The novel discusses the intersections of being Maori, Pakeha, and the lesser known Moriori. The Moriori underwent a genocide by the Maori in the 1800s because of their peaceful tendencies--and this is probably something that you have not read about before. The story revolves around a family struggling to find their identities when it becomes clear a mother has "hidden" some of the past from them. It is touching, frustrating, terrible, wonderful... it is "wow."
January 14, 2016
I did find this book moving and also heartbreaking as well as heart warming.
And therein perhaps lies my reluctance to give 5 stars. I found the voice of the tupuna (I'm sorry I've lost his name) a bit annoying although I could see his purpose.
The story of Moriori needs to be told more and this is a moving account of loss. The tension between the twins and the decisions about which culture to identify with is convincing. I liked the interventions of Mere into the story.
Perhaps it is a 4 star.
And therein perhaps lies my reluctance to give 5 stars. I found the voice of the tupuna (I'm sorry I've lost his name) a bit annoying although I could see his purpose.
The story of Moriori needs to be told more and this is a moving account of loss. The tension between the twins and the decisions about which culture to identify with is convincing. I liked the interventions of Mere into the story.
Perhaps it is a 4 star.
January 4, 2019
Magnificent. I’d give it 10-stars if I could.
December 8, 2014
A wonderful, thought-provoking book, which covers not only a portion of our history that isn't much discussed, but also discusses some of the tensions of having multiple ancestral identities.
I found the first part somewhat slow to get going, but then read the second half in pretty much one sitting. Highly recommended.
I found the first part somewhat slow to get going, but then read the second half in pretty much one sitting. Highly recommended.
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