Tohunga: Hohepa Kereopa

by Paul Moon

Paul Moon’s reputation as one of New Zealand’s foremost historians is well established. With this book, he explores new territory through his remarkable collaboration with the Tuhoe tohunga, Hohepa Kereopa. Moon is a master of narrative, and combines this gift with skilful arrangement to produce a work that is both memorable and provocative.

For the first time, the world of the priest or tohunga – which up until now has lain carefully concealed for centuries – is brought out into the open. Moon relates to his subject with a sense of genuine empathy and a close grasp of detail. Kereopa’s enormous knowledge of the traditional Maori world, and his thoughtful perspectives on subject matters ranging from natural healing to modern life, offer an exclusive insight into the realm of a great tohunga.

479 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Dr Paul Moon is Professor of History at Auckland University of Technology. Among his twenty-five published books are A Savage Country: The untold story of New Zealand in the 1820s; This Horrid Practice: The myth and reality of traditional Maori cannibalism; A History of New Zealand in the Twentieth Century; biographies of Governors Hobson, FitzRoy and the Ngāpuhi chief Hone Heke; and Encounters: The creation of New Zealand, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Australasian Ernest Scott Prize in History.

Reviews

[Einar Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: I was expecting a Maori version of Black Elk Speaks when I picked up Paul Moon’s Tohunga: Hohepa Kereopa. Moon does a good job capturing the thoughts of Hohepa Kereopa, a Maori shaman figure. Kereopa chose Moon so together they could share the man’s accumulated wisdom. I enjoyed learning about Maori culture from an insider who had integrated modern western ideas into his native ways.

I wanted more insight into the symbolic meanings of Kereopa’s statements, but I realize John Neihardt didn’t deliver that for me with Black Elk either. I’m missing guidance from one of my favorite professors: Tim Hansen from the U of Puget Sound. That’s the difference and why this book didn’t impact me as much as I had hoped.

Here’s an interesting quotation from Kereopa that applies to my life and maybe the lives of others: “Part of the thing about dying is that part of your wairua (spirit) gets transferred to someone else. You see that when a father dies, for example, his [children] will get more strong and more confident, because part of the strength of the father transfers to [them] when he dies.” Other great ideas concern human connections with our land, healing holistically, and the importance of sharing breath (hongi) with loved ones.

“If I had any message to conclude this book, it would be that one should be honest with oneself first of all. The next thing to do is to realize the beauty of one’s own world. When you really just try to be yourself, you no longer try to look for material things to get satisfaction for yourself. Finally, you need to love everything and everyone because as long as you love everything you will not abuse anything and that is what we call matemateone - a kinship love and respect because all things are kin to us.” Good advice.

[Mikaera Topia · Rating 5 out of 5]

He pukapuka miharo rawa atu - privileged to have access to the wisdom matua Hohepa shares in this book.