Sleeps Standing: A Story of the Battle of Orakau

by Witi Ihimaera, Hēmi Kelly

Both fiction and fact, this fascinating book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the Battle of Orakau. During three days in 1864, 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world. The battle marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in vast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement. Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Maori perspective. It is centred around Witi Ihimaera’s moving novella, Sleeps Standing, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Moetu.Alongside the novella are non-fiction narratives from Maori eyewitnesses, together with images and a Maori translation by Hemi Kelly, further giving voice to and illuminating the people who tried to protect their culture and land.It is estimated that, at the height of the battle, 1700 immensely superior troops, well-armed and amply resourced, laid siege to the hastily constructed pa at Orakau. The defenders were heavily outnumbered with few supplies or weapons but, when told to submit, they ‘E hoa, ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, ake!’‘Friend, I shall fight against you for ever, for ever!’

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Indigenous, War

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 28, 2017

About the author

Witi Ihimaera is a novelist and short story writer from New Zealand, perhaps the best-known Māori writer today. He is internationally famous for The Whale Rider.

Ihimaera lives in New Zealand and is of Māori descent and Anglo-Saxon descent through his father, Tom. He attended Church College of New Zealand in Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand. He was the first Māori writer to publish both a novel and a book of short stories. He began to work as a diplomat at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973, and served at various diplomatic posts in Canberra, New York, and Washington, D.C. Ihimaera remained at the Ministry until 1989, although his time there was broken by several fellowships at the University of Otago in 1975 and Victoria University of Wellington in 1982 (where he graduated with a BA).[1] In 1990, he took up a position at the University of Auckland, where he became Professor, and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature. He retired from this position in 2010.

In 2004, his nephew Gary Christie Lewis married Lady Davina Windsor, becoming the first Māori to marry into the British Royal Family.

Reviews

[Chloe Fergusson-Tibble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. I love the way Witi yet again manages to explore the spectrum of us as Māori. A young man living in Aussie returning to Aotearoa to learn about who he is and where he’s from. He does this identity work at such a typical turning point for many of us - when he’s about to have his first pēpi and become a parent himself - as if anything else would make us get our shit together 😂. The way his matatau nanny (aka all our nannies) begins the heartbreaking pūrakau about their tupuna Moetū is so delightfully Māori that you’ll struggle to pinpoint exactly how you were transported to the main story!

Moetū is as brave and courageous as I believe all of my ancestors were. He’s humble and he knows his role and how it contributes to the wellbeing of his wider hapū. He’s everything we want our kids to grow up to be. I love how Witi manages to weave in the important historical information about the battle at Orakau and the way our people stood for our whenua declaring “ka whawhai tonū mātou.”

I’m sure our tamariki will have a lot more fun learning it this way! At this rate we’ll be able to introduce them to woke fiction to feed them our histories. Ngā mihi ki a koe e te rangatira. For all these amazing books - our #classics

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable contribution to Aotearoa's literature and history. I found the historical research and accounts at least as valuable as the novella they accompany, if not more than. The novella being an account from a young person's perspective, it works very well in tandem with the reproduced oral histories of adults present at the battle.

The frame story at first seemed to me to be an excuse to string together different facts and figures, but by the end of the novella it became clear to me that it was more than just a storytelling device (aside from one segment where a frame character's reactions are used to create a fake-out cliffhanger in the main story). It very effectively gives story a real and present context, illustrating that history is intrinsically linked to today - it is a part of us, not something separate, to be treated in isolation from the present. This is all the more important in this case, since the Battle of Ōrākau - along with the Waikato Wars, and the New Zealand Wars as a whole - has slipped from its recognised place as an important event in our nation's history. It is good that it is again receiving broader recognition and attention at the national level. Ihimaera and Kelly's book is good, but not only that - it is important.

[Colleen Fauchelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

An important read, it’s just that the story didn’t flow well but it was good to read of NZ history.

[Glaiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

History is often distorted from a colonial perspective but this book powerfully retells this story from an own voices Māori point of view.

Full review to come.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why isn't there a queue for this at the library? A beautifully told story about one of the most least studied aspects of Aotearoa's history, told by one of our foremost authors and presented as a bilingual text. I am going to have to buy my own copy now. Ā tetahi rā ka pānui au te pukapuka nei i te reo Māori.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ihimaera's contribution to this book is a novella framed by contemporary characters who tell the story of Moetu, who acted as 'father' to the children and nursing mothers in the battle of Orakau, in which a band of some 300 Maori men, along with some wives and some children, were trapped for three days by an overwhelming force of soldiers. Moetu is a wonderful character, and vividly drawn. The battle rages on around him, in its strange, mixed way: the Maori had very few bullets and resorted to using peach stones and wood in their guns to keep the British soldiers at bay. They were offered peace by the military but somewhat obstinately refused to take it. In the end those still alive made a run for it; many of these survived and made it back to their various tribes.
The novella is printed in Maori on the left page and English on the right, and is followed by some other eyewitness testimonies from those involved in the battle. These are equally absorbing, though they don't entirely tell the same story as Ihimaera. Which isn't surprising. In the midst of a battle no one will know exactly what's going on.
Though the book is short, it's worth reading for the way it gives a different perspective on a battle that's not always seen from the Maori side. (Incidentally, the battle was the subject of one of New Zealand's earliest full length movies: Rewi's Last Stand.)

[Matty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vigor and importance of Ōrākau and the Land Wars elevates what is otherwise quite a lifeless story. Narrators keep readers at one remove from the central story of Moetū. The characters have little depth, coming across as rough-hewn "types". This is not a sensuous or psychological examination of historical life. It is certainly not a terrible book, but Ōrākau deserves a more artistic, urgent, literary treatment.

[Ara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book telling the story of Orakau through the māori lense, based on the involvement of Rongowhakaata. I read this as part of background research into NZ's land wars and the introduction and eye witness accounts provide ample historical context. The 'story within a story' structure also follows the tradition of Oral storytelling in a sense, balancing a moving tale with bursts of good humour.

[Reena Kainamu Softail_stories · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rewi's Last Stand and the Battle of Orakau 1865 were historical references until I lived in Te Awamutu and Kihikihi 2017-2019. Tom Roa's historical account of his iwi's defence against government forces illuminated this great battle. Now an Ihimaera story centered on the fictional Moetu in a courageous back story about rangatahi and tamariki and their place in war. Ka whawhai tonu matou is the title of Dr Ranginui Walker's tome 1986 and Rewi's defiant proclamation in 1865. Ake ake ake.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Jonathan's recent film Ka Whawhai Tonu is uncomfortably close to the story Witi Ihimaeara tells here. Also, as a point of interest, it seems to be disputed whether the line "Ka whawhai tonu mātou", "We will fight on forever", was spoken by Rewi Maniapoto, or by Tūhoe leader Te Paerata's daughter Ahumai, or by some other chieftain, although the line has become emblematic of the battle.

[Ian Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story seems to have skipped a generation or two in that it was well known when I was young but is not to later generations. Cowan's telling of it is familiar but it's great to read these different versions. I regret not being able to read the Maori language as I still find direct translations too allusive to easily understand.

[Sophia Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5. Can you ever truly go wrong with a novel by Witi Ihimaera? I enjoyed the fictional retelling of a very real NZ story. The dual translation was also a welcome surprise and I hope to return to this book when I am further along my own Te Reo journey. If you enjoy history, good story-telling, NZ fiction, and Māori literature, then this is an excellent book to pick up.

[Binzeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book from the historical perspective listed before and after the story, the language formatting with full moari on the left and English on the right (plus new words to learn), and who doesn't like lots of pictures? Lol

[Robbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. More of a short story but bulked up with with a Maori translation side-by-side with the English. It also has several eye-witness accounts at the end of the book, which make for interesting reading.

[Elizabeth Horton]

I liked the idea of this fictionalized short story surrounded by survivor's accounts and other cultural context, and I liked learning more about the conflict, but I found the story itself overly simple and uninspiring.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written from a Māori perspective, this book describes the Battle of Ōrākau, which took place in 1864 New Zealand during the height of the land wars. It was an engaging historical read, an essential staple for a New Zealand school library.

[Fiona Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing mix of facts and legend, with photos, maps and history of the Battle of Orakau.

[Wilma · Rating 2 out of 5]

More telling then showing, list of names ...

[C.D. Weatherholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novella in regards to Orakau battle in New Zealand with the Maori and the British.

[thehoggle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Neil David · Rating 5 out of 5]

captivating

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

My eldest had to read this for school and he was really struggling to stay engaged/focused with it, so I read it too so we could discuss it.
And honestly ... no wonder he's going off reading if this is the stuff they're giving them in school!

Dull, disjointed and quite niche. I thought it was kind of a cringy and blatant attempt to make a tragic event look like "The Alamo" or "300" - the characters even say as much.

I also thought it was low-key misogynistic how the women/girls got their looks and figures referenced frequently (constantly) but this was never deemed relevant for the men/boys. (Aside from us being told how "white" the Māori relative from Australia is.)

It's nice the history is included too, I guess. I'm sure someone out there will find this interesting or engaging but I just can't I'm sorry.

‘Friend, I shall fight against you for ever, for ever!’
Spoiler: The survivors ran away.

[Julia Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable addition to Aotearoa's history of our Land Wars. Especially liked the te Reo side by side.