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Potiki
Roimata and her family have rejected cities and unemployment to return to the land. Here they live a rural life, fishing and farming just enough for their own plates. But when they are approached by property developers, they suddenly find their land, livelihood and community under threat.
It is the younger generation who prove that it is possible to fight back: Manu, child with nightmares, who was schooled at home and fostered a new heart in the community; James, the wood carver, who will retell their genealogies with his hands; Toko, the Prophet Child who knows he won't live long, and who warns as a young boy that the stories will change; and Tangimoana, lawyer, daughter and wilful loner, who sees 'the strength of a branch to be not in its resilience, but in its ability to spring back and strike.'
With its layers of stories and shifting perspectives, Patricia Grace has crafted a spirited and moving novel showing that 'good can come from sorrow, new life from old.'
It is the younger generation who prove that it is possible to fight back: Manu, child with nightmares, who was schooled at home and fostered a new heart in the community; James, the wood carver, who will retell their genealogies with his hands; Toko, the Prophet Child who knows he won't live long, and who warns as a young boy that the stories will change; and Tangimoana, lawyer, daughter and wilful loner, who sees 'the strength of a branch to be not in its resilience, but in its ability to spring back and strike.'
With its layers of stories and shifting perspectives, Patricia Grace has crafted a spirited and moving novel showing that 'good can come from sorrow, new life from old.'
185 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 1986
120 people are currently reading
3144 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Grace
62 books173 followersPatricia Grace is a major New Zealand novelist, short story writer and children’s writer, of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent, and is affiliated to Ngati Porou by marriage. Grace began writing early, while teaching and raising her family of seven children, and has since won many national and international awards, including the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for fiction, the Deutz Medal for Fiction, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, widely considered the most prestigious literary prize after the Nobel. A deeply subtle, moving and subversive writer, in 2007 Grace received a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
January 25, 2025
This is not your usual kind of novel. There are many point of view characters here, divided over the many short chapters this story has. This is done for a reason. It’s a story about a community, not about a particular character. Though there are two characters who get the most time to shine. One of which is actually inspired by Māui, a hero of Māori mythology.
What could have elevated the reading experience for me, as someone who doesn’t know the Māori language, is the addition of a glossary for the many Māori words in this book, or occasional translations in footnotes. But I don’t want to fault this book for that. Because this is done on purpose. This is a book written by and for the Māori people in New Zealand. It’s a story about cultural identity, and the impact felt by the native people as developers try to buy and force them off their land. It’s about ordinary people who feel that their community and their way of life is being threatened.
This is not a book to pick up if you’re looking for light entertainment. It’s a powerful and important story that tries to showcase the Māori culture and their struggles to its readers and, most importantly, it tries to preserve it for future generations.
What could have elevated the reading experience for me, as someone who doesn’t know the Māori language, is the addition of a glossary for the many Māori words in this book, or occasional translations in footnotes. But I don’t want to fault this book for that. Because this is done on purpose. This is a book written by and for the Māori people in New Zealand. It’s a story about cultural identity, and the impact felt by the native people as developers try to buy and force them off their land. It’s about ordinary people who feel that their community and their way of life is being threatened.
This is not a book to pick up if you’re looking for light entertainment. It’s a powerful and important story that tries to showcase the Māori culture and their struggles to its readers and, most importantly, it tries to preserve it for future generations.
April 26, 2021
I don't know what it is with Grace. I can admire the craft, this particular book is very thought provoking, but it doesn't touch my heart.
She does write beautifully though and in New Zealand not just Maori land rights (which is the subject of this book)are topical - it is watching developers buy up properties and leaving them empty while so many people are homeless or living in cars. House prices are soaring over here where in much of the country it is difficult to find a house at less than $800k. Auckland - over a million.
It just isn't right.
Funnily enough a comment another Kiwi author, Sue McCauley made about this book moved me more.
She does write beautifully though and in New Zealand not just Maori land rights (which is the subject of this book)are topical - it is watching developers buy up properties and leaving them empty while so many people are homeless or living in cars. House prices are soaring over here where in much of the country it is difficult to find a house at less than $800k. Auckland - over a million.
It just isn't right.
Funnily enough a comment another Kiwi author, Sue McCauley made about this book moved me more.
Every marketeer and property developer in the country deserves a copy of Potiki. Patricia Grace sees straight but are we listening?
December 17, 2017
Simply stunning. Almost perfect. A pearl in the oyster (I love me some oysters!) of reading life.
It will not appeal to everyone, as it has many words and concepts untranslated (or untranslatable, I can't be sure which) from Maori. It unfolds, as I feel the best stories do, at its own pace. It's 30 years old and that means the events of the past referred to by Roimata and Hemi are in the 1940s and 1950s. 21st-century readers are cautioned not to think that New Zealand is the same; also that it's changed utterly. Like the US with its fraught "racial" divide in politics and culture, New Zealand has its own fault lines and seismic cultural rifts.
The dreamlike poetry of the first half of the short novel makes one think that the story will fit comfortably into a magical realist groove. The second half takes up the story's 1980s crisis in a less otherworldly tone, but with the same sense of rootedness and cultural sanctity as the first part.
It will not appeal to everyone, as it has many words and concepts untranslated (or untranslatable, I can't be sure which) from Maori. It unfolds, as I feel the best stories do, at its own pace. It's 30 years old and that means the events of the past referred to by Roimata and Hemi are in the 1940s and 1950s. 21st-century readers are cautioned not to think that New Zealand is the same; also that it's changed utterly. Like the US with its fraught "racial" divide in politics and culture, New Zealand has its own fault lines and seismic cultural rifts.
The dreamlike poetry of the first half of the short novel makes one think that the story will fit comfortably into a magical realist groove. The second half takes up the story's 1980s crisis in a less otherworldly tone, but with the same sense of rootedness and cultural sanctity as the first part.
January 10, 2021
Brilliant. This short novel evoked so many thoughts and memories and dug up so much that has been buried within me, that it was at times difficult to concentrate on the story. So I reread pages and deliberately took my time, scribbling in the margins, remembering stories and experiences from from schooldays, from participation in marae activities, attendance at the funerals of elders, learning to weave flax, learn poi dances, using sticks (made from rolled up magazines), the legends, the gods, the taniwha.
Potiki is the story of a family and the encroachment on their lives of the now dominant culture that is trying to usurp their way of life. In some ways it has already suceeded, through education, as divisions occur within the community and some are enticed by the greed of the capitalist mentality.
In three parts, the story is narrated by Hemi, his wife Roimata and the son they bring into their family Toko raising him with their three. Grace depicts the family in ways that remind us of the Maori creation myth, of Rangi and Papa and the time of darkness before the children push them apart and bring in the light.
Each of them have their own stories and their stories had a tendency, James's of the earth, and the universe, Tangimoana's of the sea, Manu, in fear of disappearing could not find his stories.
Roimata worries for Manu when he is due to start school:
Rather than go out and become a teacher, she becomes the keeper, teller, listener and sharer of stories, a writer and reader of stories, an enactor, a collector and maker of stories.
Their home, their land and community is under threat from outsiders, who covet their location and do everything they can to entice them to give it up, to sell, using the offer of money, then more threatening measures to get what they want.
Two cultures collide, but only one side is listening, the other is used to getting their way, is used to the usual tactics winning over. This family and community understand too well what they will lose if they let go of their land, they have already witnessed it. And though it is not them that fight, for their way is to talk openly, there are others from outside who will intervene.
Hemi worked the land in his youth but went out to work when his grandfather passed on. Now there is no job, he is back to caring for and caretaking the land.
It is a new era, there is more determination which created hope, that turned into confidence and created an energy.
Land, their homes, the meeting house, the foodhouse, the cemetery are all part of a lifestyle and community that allows people to leave and return, to be independent, but to know that they can return, a place for family to come together, a refuge for the lost and broken.
Toko is visionary, a child that almost wasn't, one with a special gift, who sees the stories changing and will become part of the story that is carved into the meeting house, remembered in wood and in these most eloquent and meaningful words, Patricia Grace's beautiful reflection on the death of an extraordinary one.
Potiki is the story of a family and the encroachment on their lives of the now dominant culture that is trying to usurp their way of life. In some ways it has already suceeded, through education, as divisions occur within the community and some are enticed by the greed of the capitalist mentality.
In three parts, the story is narrated by Hemi, his wife Roimata and the son they bring into their family Toko raising him with their three. Grace depicts the family in ways that remind us of the Maori creation myth, of Rangi and Papa and the time of darkness before the children push them apart and bring in the light.
Each of them have their own stories and their stories had a tendency, James's of the earth, and the universe, Tangimoana's of the sea, Manu, in fear of disappearing could not find his stories.
Roimata worries for Manu when he is due to start school:
What would be right then for a little one who called out in sleep, and whose eyes let too much in? What would be right for one who didn't belong in schools, or rather, to whom schools didn't belong?
Rather than go out and become a teacher, she becomes the keeper, teller, listener and sharer of stories, a writer and reader of stories, an enactor, a collector and maker of stories.
Then I knew that nothing need be different. 'Everything we need is here. We learn what we need and want to learn, and all of it is here,' I said to Hemi, but he had always known it. We needed just to live our lives, seek out our stories and share them with each other.
Their home, their land and community is under threat from outsiders, who covet their location and do everything they can to entice them to give it up, to sell, using the offer of money, then more threatening measures to get what they want.
Two cultures collide, but only one side is listening, the other is used to getting their way, is used to the usual tactics winning over. This family and community understand too well what they will lose if they let go of their land, they have already witnessed it. And though it is not them that fight, for their way is to talk openly, there are others from outside who will intervene.
Hemi worked the land in his youth but went out to work when his grandfather passed on. Now there is no job, he is back to caring for and caretaking the land.
They still had their land and that was something to feel goodabout. Still had everything except the hills. The hills had gone but that was before his time and there was nothing he could do about that, nothing anyone could do. What had happened there wasn't right, but it was over and done with. Now, at least, the family was still here, on ancestral land. They still had their urupa and their wharenui, and there was clean water out front.
It is a new era, there is more determination which created hope, that turned into confidence and created an energy.
Things were stirring, to the extent of people fighting to hold onto a language that was in danger of being lost, and to the extent of people struggling to regain land that had gone from them years before.
Land, their homes, the meeting house, the foodhouse, the cemetery are all part of a lifestyle and community that allows people to leave and return, to be independent, but to know that they can return, a place for family to come together, a refuge for the lost and broken.
Toko is visionary, a child that almost wasn't, one with a special gift, who sees the stories changing and will become part of the story that is carved into the meeting house, remembered in wood and in these most eloquent and meaningful words, Patricia Grace's beautiful reflection on the death of an extraordinary one.
We have known what it is to have had a gift, and have not ever questioned from where the gift came, only sometimes wondered. The gift has not been taken away because gifts are legacies, that once given cannot be taken away. They may pass from hand to hand, but once held thay are always yours. The gift we were given is with us still.
July 9, 2020
This little book took me a good solid week to read, mostly because I had to stop every chapter or so to weep for a while. Also feeling mad that Potiki/Patricia Grace in general wasn't on the recommended reading lists in high-school (like, sure, I liked One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest fine at the time but really?) because part of me wishes I could have read this a long time ago, and yet am also pretty certain that sometimes we come across things at just the right time, and now is probably that time.
Long story short: it's essential.
I also firmly agree with whoever it was that said that any developer based in this country should be required to read this before doing... well, anything.
Long story short: it's essential.
I also firmly agree with whoever it was that said that any developer based in this country should be required to read this before doing... well, anything.
November 28, 2015
I read this book as part of my self-proclaimed New Zealand November in 2015. While I've read several books with feet heavily in Maori culture, this had the feeling of being most recent. It illuminates the struggles native New Zealanders have had in holding on to their land through the eyes of one community, particularly three members of a family.
"The developers were angry at our constant refusals but that was because they did not understand that our choice was between poverty and self-destruction. Yet poverty is not a good word. Poverty is destructive too. We did not have real poverty. We had homes and enough good food, or nearly always enough. We had people and land and a good spirit, and work that was important to us all."It was a bit strange to read this immediately after The Bone People, because both rotate between three points of view. The son, the one connected with the gods because of his birth order, seems to have the most insight into how his community is viewed by those on the outside.
"Right then I saw what the man saw as he turned and looked at the three of us and as my eyes met his eyes. I saw what he saw. What he saw was brokenness, a broken race. He saw in my Granny, my Mary and me, a whole people, decrepit, deranged, deformed. That was what I knew. That was when I understood, not only the thoughts of the man, but also I understood the years of hurt, sorrow and enslavement that fisted within my Granny Tamihana's heart. I understood, all at once, all the pain that she held inside her small and gentle self.The story is a bit circular, with some details being revealed out of order for no reason I could really discern. This plus a bunch of untranslated Maori phrases made it feel a bit like I wasn't the intended audience for the novel! But you know, I think that's intentional. There is a ongoing thread through the novel about storytelling; the difference between what the children learn in schools about story vs. what their culture tells them about their own stories.
And the pain belonged to all of us."
"We could not afford books so we made our own. In this way we were able to find ourselves in books. It is rare for us to find ourselves in books, but in our own books we were able to find and define our lives."Still worth a read and I'd probably enjoy going back and reading the author's short stories.
Want to read
March 25, 2020
January 5, 2021
It’s exciting when you have the opportunity to read a novel with a different structure and not a structure imposed by the artist, but rather a structure native to the culture being written about. This is the case with this wonderful short novel, and the culture is that of a Maori group somewhere in New Zealand (the piece of land is central to the novel; its location is not). The novel’s structure is a spiral in which there is limited distinction among past, present, and future. This could have meant a novel in which the reader is lost in time, but here one is taken back and forth in time in a way that differs both from the experimental novel and from the novel where chapters focus on different times or where flashbacks prevail. Here, there are places where time matters (important events occur), and places where it doesn’t matter, where stories are told that consist of myth, history, current events, and point(s) of view.
The spiral structure means that repetition is used in different ways here. Sometimes it involves retelling of stories; stories are meant to be living things, growing and adapting to circumstances. Sometimes it involves people’s characteristics in a Homeric way: the way a character walks, for instance. Sometimes it involves the restatement of essential philosophical views or views of or responses to what outsiders (both Maori and white) do or say. Most of the time I loved the repetition, but it is certainly something that would put some people off.
The weakest parts of Potiki are where white people appear, at least the white people who are trying to buy and develop the land at the center of the story (the environmentalists are treated as outside friends, almost like other Maoris, because they have some understanding of how creation works). I wish they weren’t so one-dimensional, but I suppose that this is because they just don’t fit in the novel’s world, and that’s the point.
I can’t say that this is a great literary novel, because the standards are different, but it is a completely different, fascinating reading experience. I also can’t say that Grace doesn’t handle her choices every bit as well as the best experimental Westerners. I can say that I don’t understand why Grace isn’t more well known. Two reviews by my Goodreads friends, and this her most popular work? Are we the developers of literature, with a limited idea of what constitutes literature?
The spiral structure means that repetition is used in different ways here. Sometimes it involves retelling of stories; stories are meant to be living things, growing and adapting to circumstances. Sometimes it involves people’s characteristics in a Homeric way: the way a character walks, for instance. Sometimes it involves the restatement of essential philosophical views or views of or responses to what outsiders (both Maori and white) do or say. Most of the time I loved the repetition, but it is certainly something that would put some people off.
The weakest parts of Potiki are where white people appear, at least the white people who are trying to buy and develop the land at the center of the story (the environmentalists are treated as outside friends, almost like other Maoris, because they have some understanding of how creation works). I wish they weren’t so one-dimensional, but I suppose that this is because they just don’t fit in the novel’s world, and that’s the point.
I can’t say that this is a great literary novel, because the standards are different, but it is a completely different, fascinating reading experience. I also can’t say that Grace doesn’t handle her choices every bit as well as the best experimental Westerners. I can say that I don’t understand why Grace isn’t more well known. Two reviews by my Goodreads friends, and this her most popular work? Are we the developers of literature, with a limited idea of what constitutes literature?
December 29, 2016
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this book more than I expected. When other people claim a book is a great adventure story I find it too academic, and when others claim it's too academic, apparently I find it to be a warm, enjoyable family story. The first half of this novella develops the life of a family and their small community, before getting heavily into Maori land politics in the second half. That's a wise choice, keeping the story grounded in the characters rather than turning them into props for an op-ed piece.
Granted, this isn't the most accessible book for Western readers, but it clearly isn't supposed to be. The importance of storytelling in defining a community, and the characters' not seeing themselves reflected in the mainstream canon, is referenced several times; this book seems intended in part to remedy that lack. So there are some untranslated Maori phrases here, and there's a certain vagueness around some of the book's events, particularly at the end. But there's also a strong voice, and a certain rhythm to the language to which the reader quickly gets accustomed, which give the book a feeling of authenticity. While I wouldn't recommend it to the casual reader, this would be an excellent choice for anyone interested in the subject.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected. When other people claim a book is a great adventure story I find it too academic, and when others claim it's too academic, apparently I find it to be a warm, enjoyable family story. The first half of this novella develops the life of a family and their small community, before getting heavily into Maori land politics in the second half. That's a wise choice, keeping the story grounded in the characters rather than turning them into props for an op-ed piece.
Granted, this isn't the most accessible book for Western readers, but it clearly isn't supposed to be. The importance of storytelling in defining a community, and the characters' not seeing themselves reflected in the mainstream canon, is referenced several times; this book seems intended in part to remedy that lack. So there are some untranslated Maori phrases here, and there's a certain vagueness around some of the book's events, particularly at the end. But there's also a strong voice, and a certain rhythm to the language to which the reader quickly gets accustomed, which give the book a feeling of authenticity. While I wouldn't recommend it to the casual reader, this would be an excellent choice for anyone interested in the subject.
September 9, 2014
Potiki is such an interesting book, it would make a great choice for book groups.
It is the story of a Maori community’s struggle to regain control of their ancestral lands. Having had their land acquired to build an airfield during WWI, these landholders were dispersed into rental accommodation so that it became almost impossible to sustain their culture and traditions. But as is so often the case in land rights matters, a dispirited and apparently ‘broken’ people were rejuvenated by a charismatic leader who used the legal system to facilitate the return of the land – not all of it, but enough for those who wanted to, to resume farming and rebuild community life.
A pragmatic people, these Maori accepted that even though they did not agree that their land had been ‘improved’ by the building of sports grounds and club-houses, they had to pay recompense for these ‘improvements’ – and since they didn’t have any money, they had to forego to the return of some of their land. It was the use of this adjacent land for the development of a resort that is the focus of Potiki.
To read the rest of my review and questions I suggest for book groups, please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
It is the story of a Maori community’s struggle to regain control of their ancestral lands. Having had their land acquired to build an airfield during WWI, these landholders were dispersed into rental accommodation so that it became almost impossible to sustain their culture and traditions. But as is so often the case in land rights matters, a dispirited and apparently ‘broken’ people were rejuvenated by a charismatic leader who used the legal system to facilitate the return of the land – not all of it, but enough for those who wanted to, to resume farming and rebuild community life.
A pragmatic people, these Maori accepted that even though they did not agree that their land had been ‘improved’ by the building of sports grounds and club-houses, they had to pay recompense for these ‘improvements’ – and since they didn’t have any money, they had to forego to the return of some of their land. It was the use of this adjacent land for the development of a resort that is the focus of Potiki.
To read the rest of my review and questions I suggest for book groups, please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
December 25, 2009
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
This is a magical book. Toko-i-te-Marama has the gift of knowing and story telling. May he rule my heart.
This is a magical book. Toko-i-te-Marama has the gift of knowing and story telling. May he rule my heart.
February 16, 2016
In this New Zealand story, colonialism is not dead, but has evolved and is championed by land developers.
December 4, 2022
He ātaahua tēnei pukapuka. I tangi au, i menemene hoki. Ka mau te wehi, e rima whetu.
January 24, 2021
I loved this book. I felt as though I was sinking deeply into the language and the culture. I loved the way the characters view the world, each other, nature, loss and tragedy. I loved the intuitive character Toko and I loved the stories which the communities built their lives around. I felt anger at the way the people, their land and nature have been treated to the extent that I sometimes had to put the book down and take a step back. This is very powerful writing
November 14, 2023
This was beautifully done - very real, personable and I think very accurately showed not told what it means to grow up in a Māori community. It was also very sad. Dropped one star because I have a personal dislike of ambiguity and there was one part at the end which wasn’t super clear - some people love this so I think it’s a me thing. I saw someone say this is the type of books NZ schools should teach and I agree so much.
September 6, 2025
nz lit hits like nothing else, need some tissues and a flight home
January 14, 2024
I love Patricia Grace and I loooved this book. A must-read!
October 9, 2019
Potiki - the littlest one of the family..
As a pakeha New Zealander who is always keen to learn and understand more of the Maori culture, I loved this book. For a few days I felt immersed in the world of the marae, and felt with the characters as developers tried to buy and develop their land.
As a pakeha New Zealander who is always keen to learn and understand more of the Maori culture, I loved this book. For a few days I felt immersed in the world of the marae, and felt with the characters as developers tried to buy and develop their land.
December 1, 2021
Really wonderful.
‘Potiki’ follows a Māori community through various stages of their fight for land rights, from about 1930 to 1980. Despite the focus on community, Grace manages to carve a host of distinct narrative voices, constructing a collective of unique individuals. The narration overall is thoughtful and well written, often taking on a dreamlike quality. There is some interesting exploration of dichotomy, between power and powerlessness; inevitability and autonomy; change and tradition, and it’s definitely a novel that gives you space to reflect. Well worth the read, I even shed a little tear once I’d finished it.
‘Potiki’ follows a Māori community through various stages of their fight for land rights, from about 1930 to 1980. Despite the focus on community, Grace manages to carve a host of distinct narrative voices, constructing a collective of unique individuals. The narration overall is thoughtful and well written, often taking on a dreamlike quality. There is some interesting exploration of dichotomy, between power and powerlessness; inevitability and autonomy; change and tradition, and it’s definitely a novel that gives you space to reflect. Well worth the read, I even shed a little tear once I’d finished it.
November 5, 2024
(Yayyyy I finally completed my reading goal!!)
3.9⭐️
I really enjoyed this book unfortunately it took me a while to read but it was good!! The structure and form was good and the multiple povs contributed to the overall feeling of community. The writing was really good and flowed well. I liked all of the characters tbh I did find Toko a little bit annoying at times (🫣) and I loved Tangimoana’s character even if she was a bit stereotypical. The comment and storyline of Māori indigeneity was beautiful and the way they stood against Dollarman was really powerful. I would recommend this book!
3.9⭐️
I really enjoyed this book unfortunately it took me a while to read but it was good!! The structure and form was good and the multiple povs contributed to the overall feeling of community. The writing was really good and flowed well. I liked all of the characters tbh I did find Toko a little bit annoying at times (🫣) and I loved Tangimoana’s character even if she was a bit stereotypical. The comment and storyline of Māori indigeneity was beautiful and the way they stood against Dollarman was really powerful. I would recommend this book!
April 12, 2022
4.5/5*
I cried. A lot.
I cried. A lot.
May 12, 2022
3.5 ⭐️
November 22, 2022
This is a special book in so many ways that I am puzzled by why I found myself a little detached from it. I still found it beautiful and important though.
October 2, 2023
Sobre com es va ocupant la terra ancestral dels maorís, i la lluita per recuperar-la. Per la gran quantitat de termes maorís m'he perdut detalls, però no podria ser d'una altra manera. Massa espiritual pel meu gust.
April 4, 2025
*4.25*
March 10, 2024
This novel started beautifully, then felt quite dense towards the end of part one. But then I sat down and read straight through part two and three and felt like I lived a whole lifetime in this community, their stories, alongside their people, their land. It was heavy, touching, and a very wonderful partner book to have read so soon after Ædnan.
Read
February 14, 2024DNF page 69 - really well written and i love patricia grace sm but i honestly just cannot be bothered thinking while i read at the moment
September 30, 2025
Required reading from back home
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